Who She Became
by Dreaming of dance
Summary: Three years after moving away, Cindy believed that so much had changed, her feelings for Jimmy had as well. What happens when their paths cross when she returns and she starts falling for him all over again? JimmyxCindyxBetty love triangle
1. Revelation

hey,this chapter is just basically to show the reasoning for what actions Cindy might do later, i didnt want it to seem she was acting out of character later in the story without reason. italics are her direct thoughts. Don't be discouraged by the first chapter please

Disclaimer: i dont own jimmy neutron/ characters and all that =)

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"All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another." ~Anatole France

She watched the lights of the city and the nonstop flow of pedestrians as she rested her head on the window of the car. It had been about an hour after the long plane ride, and now she found herself stuck in the nightly traffic of New York City. The day had been a blur. She glanced down at her fingernails that she had been nervously chewing on since the day had started. She had started biting them since the day she found out. She didn't want this day to come; she had pleaded, begged, and nearly started groveling to her parents, but it was to no avail. They were moving, and that was final.

She didn't even tell him goodbye. What was she supposed to say? There would be no point in confessing her feelings; she would be gone only hours later and never see him again. She told herself that it would be easier this way, this way she wouldn't have to struggle over words that she never had been able to voice before, words that she only ever dreamed of telling him. She was never exactly sure of how he really felt about her, so it was better this way. At least that's what she kept on repeating in her mind.

She pulled a stray blond hair from her bangs behind her ear in attempt to cover up her wiping a tear she had felt slip from her eye. She couldn't cry over this again. The night before she cried herself completely dry, it was the only time she allowed herself to give in to that choked up feeling in her chest.

It felt like the end of an era. She wasn't sure who she was if she wasn't going to be competing with him every day, making sarcastic remarks, and calling him names. Who was she without her perfect attendance record, straight A's and academic awards? Because here, none of that would matter, no one here knew her or that she was as competitive as they come.

Her life back there was over. She said goodbye to Libby the night before, they hugged, and claimed they would always be best friends even if they were hundreds of miles apart. Right now she wasn't so sure if that would stay true. She barely waved to her other classmates on her last day at Lindberg Middle, she didn't want to make it seem like it was a big deal that she was leaving. Even though her world felt like it was falling apart. Then today, just like that, they had left that pink house that she had grown up in, probably never to return.

The blaring honking noise of the car horn brought her briefly out of her thoughts, and she looked to see her mom staring blankly ahead, that superior air that she always had still evident. Her dad was on the phone, a business call she presumed. That was why she was dragged here to begin with. Her father's law firm had asked him to transfer here because there was a higher demand of clients; or something like that. She didn't really hear much of her parents reasoning once they said the word "moving".

They were on their way to the penthouse that her parents insisted she would love living in. She didn't care that they would have a lot more money now that her Dad was working more; she just wanted her routine life in Retroville back.

"Cynthia, stop brooding and start embracing the way you were meant to live." noted her mother when she had let out a long sigh.

Embrace what? What was actually good about the fact that everyone she had ever known in her life was back home? Or at least what she considered her home. She started thinking back to her thoughts before that car horn interrupted her. _Who am I now?_ She wasn't sure how exactly she was supposed to act anymore. Would she find a new guy to replace Jimmy? Big chance not since she would be attending an all girls private school. _Are my parents trying to kill me… most likely._ What would life without Jimmy be like now that she was completely without his influence? Wait. Stop. She didn't want to think of it that way. As much as she fawned over Jimmy, she didn't like to think that anyone had any influence over her. She was her own person right? Right? Suddenly a thought hit her, and it hit her hard.

_Who am I without Jimmy?_ The past few years she had spent competing with him, arguing with him, and seriously crushing over him. Looking back, everything she did or got herself involved with was done in order to bring herself closer to him. _Maybe I haven't been being myself at all…maybe I would be a completely different person if I had never met him._ Suddenly she was very confused. She was always so completely sure and confident with whom she was. But maybe that voice in the back of her head was right. The whole persona that was Cindy Vortex revolved around Jimmy Neutron. And she wasn't so sure she liked that.

_But I can be a whole new person here…._

She glanced around the car again through her emerald eyes to see her parents still in their respective positions, neither one of them had moved. Turning so that she was looking out the window again, she took note of city outside. It was a polar opposite of Retroville. The bright lights didn't seem so blinding anymore, almost inviting, intoxicating. There were so many different people here that stalked the shimmering streets at night.

She looked up and noticed the sun roof in the ceiling of the car; she saw the button next to it that allowed it to retract the glass closing it off. Her parents were too distracted to really be paying attention. She pushed the button and waited until it was completely opened. Without warning, she stood on her seat with the pink converses she had been wearing since before she could remember, and poked half of her body outside the roof. Something was suddenly drawing her in, and she only wanted to become closer.

The wind rustled her hair and she squinted at the sudden exposure to light. This city was so alive, so vibrant with color; maybe she didn't need Neutron to have adventures. This place looked like it was just begging for her to explore, try new things, take risks, and be whoever she wanted to be.

She took her uniform pink hair tie out of her hair so she could feel the wind run through her long tresses. She giggled to herself thinking about how she swore she was creating some kind of cliché at the moment. Someone whistled, making her jump. She turned her head to see a boy winking and waving at her. _That's odd. I must be making some sort of spectacle out of myself. _Her initial reaction was to duck back in the car and blush from embarrassment, but then she did something she didn't think she would ever do. She winked, shot him a brilliant smile and waved back.

_Where on earth did that come from?_ Cindy Vortex would never do that, or maybe she would, maybe this was something she would do often if she had never fallen for Jimmy.

_I think it's time that I do what I want, there's nothing standing in my way…no Carl to say it's too dangerous, no Betty Quinlan to be in a shadow of, and no Jimmy Neutron to cause me to be someone I'm not…or judge me…_

She found that smile forming on her lips again, and flung her head back to feel the wind brush over herself. So what if she knew no one, so what if she had been taken from the only place she had known her whole life. She was going to be the girl she never could be back in Retroville. She was going to have fun, wild, and crazy adventures that would rival with the ones of Jimmy Neutron. Nothing was going to stand in her way. She was going to make sure of it.

"It is only in adventure that some people succeed in knowing themselves - in finding themselves." ~André Gide


	2. An Unexpected Arrival

Chapter 2 finally. Sorry it took forever, i actually had it done a week ago but then my computer spazzed out. funny how things like that happen to me. anyways here it is, it might seem slow at first, but i felt i needed to give some background information. Oh, so im not sure about the rating, i think it could still pass as T. but if not ill fix it

disclaimer: i dont own jimmy neutron

"We all have big changes in our lives that are more or less a second chance." ~Harrison Ford

She was back.

It had been about three years since she had lived in Retroville, three years of a different city, a different school, a different life; but she found herself back in the small suburb town taking a cab and feeling that she was having a bit of déjà vu._ Why do all the changes in my life always start with a taxi ride?_

As Cindy sat in the back of the cab alone she tapped her fingers anxiously on armrest of the car wanting to just get there already. Suspense was really just not her thing. Unlike before, her parents were not moving back with her. They loved their fancy life back in New York too much to come, and besides, this was supposed to be her "punishment". She scowled her same scowl she did since she could remember, thinking that her parents had finally decided to punish her for something that wasn't necessarily her fault. Despite all the other crazy crap she pulled. _They didn't even blink an eye when I stumbled home at 3 am on a school night, and didn't bother to ask how I managed to accidently knock over 2 vases in my drunken state. _But that's how her parents usually responded when she came home from party…if she came home. They feigned indifference, as long as she didn't make a public spectacle of herself.

The reason the blond was to return to the suburb town was too threatening to their reputation, and they couldn't have her messing up their name. _Figures… they care more about their reputation than me. _She was going to miss the way New York made her feel alive and spontaneous, she would miss her friends, and she would miss her lifestyle; but she was also interested to see what had changed in Retroville since she was gone.

As she sat thinking about what might be going on tonight, she looked down at her high heels. _As much as I love these, how could I have possibly thought that wearing heels to travel would be a good idea??_ They were really the only shoes that weren't packed in her many suitcases but she was now realizing how unpractical they were for flying.

The cab pulled in front of the pink house from her childhood and the driver went to get her bags for her. She stepped out of the car and just stared up at the abandoned house that was only lit by the streetlights that came on at night. It didn't look like it had changed a bit. Her parents had never sold the house, in case they ever decided to move back.

" Should I take your bags to your door miss?" The cab driver asked her.

"Oh yea, thanks"

She paid her fee and tipped the driver for being so nice to her. She left her bags in the main entrance of her house and roamed around as if she needed a tour to refresh her memory. The house scarily looked just how they left it, nothing out of place. _Mom must have hired a maid or something_

Cindy pulled her phone out of her purse and scrolled through the contacts as she searched for Libby's name. She hadn't spoken to her in a couple of months; it was hard to keep contact but Cindy hoped that Libby would always be her best friend that she could tell anything to _Except that I've moved back to Retroville…_

She had wanted her return to be more of a surprise, mostly because she didn't know what to expect.

" Hey, I haven't talked to you in forever, what are you up to tonight?" was what the text she sent had said. She wanted to make it sound casual, as if she was just inquiring what she was up to.

She was surprised to hear her phone's ringer go off so soon after the text she sent. _That was quick… she's probably not doing anything _

"Hey Girl!! How have you been, your right it has been forever! Nick Dean's having a party so I'm at his house trying to make sure Sheen doesn't do anything stupid."

Cindy laughed at the text. After all these years Libby was still involved with Sheen. That gave Cindy an idea. What would be a more unexpected entrance than to just show up to Nick Dean's house unannounced? An evil smile came to her lips. _Time for some fun._

Oh yes, what she thought was going to be a boring night of unpacking was about to get very interesting.

***

Music was blaring, and bodies danced as the party was in full swing. Drunk girls who draped themselves all over too touchy guys, littered the party along with emptied red cups. Cindy thought it looked like something out of Mean Girls. _How much should I bet that Nick's the star quarterback and Britney is head cheerleader?_

As she strode through the crowd of people, Cindy could feel eyes on her and hear random comments from people she passed by.

"Who's she?" remarked one girl

"She looks a little familiar" replied another

" Whoa she's hot!" said some guy in a jersey.

She smirked at the comment, not because she was cocky and thought she was "hot" but just because all guys were the same, and only interested in one thing about her.

She absently ran a hand through her hair as she scanned the crowd for Libby, she wasn't sure what to look for since she hadn't seen her in so long. _How about an African- American girl singing along to the music with an overly hyper guy? Seems close enough. _And she was right, over near the stereo stood a pretty girl resembling an older version of Libby, and a very tall yet still overly excited looking older Sheen. Cindy ignored the rest of people's critiques as she walked toward her target.

"Sheen don't wave your arms so much! Your gonna knock over something!" exclaimed a slightly annoyed Libby

"Sorry my queen, but you know how I get when I party."

"Don't I know it…just try to be careful" Libby really didn't want Sheen to be banned from someone's house… again.

" So who texted you before?" Sheen asked while doing some sped up version of the Macarena.

"Actually it was Cindy…" Libby was still trying to process that herself, she hadn't heard from Cindy in a while, and quite honestly wasn't even sure what was going on with her. She felt saddened that she really didn't know her anymore.

"Cindy? Really? What did she have to say?" Sheen actually kinda forgot about her, and didn't mention her to Jimmy. It was bit of a sore subject.

" She just wanted to know what I was doing tonight...it was really random, I'm happy to hear from her though…I was starting to wonder what happened to her."

"Really? I heard she turned into a real bitch." Exclaimed a girl from behind her. Libby turned around to see who the hell had the nerve to say that about her old best friend. She wasn't expecting to see a tall blonde girl, with the same piercing green eyes, of said bff.

"Miss me?" Cindy said to a very stunned Libby.

"OH. MY. GOD!" Libby screamed and enveloped Cindy into a bone crushing hug _I don't remember Libby being this strong._

"Libby..Libs.. can't.. breath" she said with exasperated breaths. Libby realized she was crushing her and let go and stepped a foot back.

"Cindy! Is that you? What are you doing here? Are you visiting? For how long? Oh my god you're so gorgeous" Cindy laughed at Libby's multiple questions.

"Hah, yes it's me, and actually I'm here to stay… I moved back." Libby was at a loss for words. When Cindy asked what she was up to tonight she thought she was just wondering, not that she would actually show up where she was.

"This is crazy!" Libby turned around to grab for Sheen who had gotten distracted by the party lights. " Sheen! Pay attention! Cindy is back!" Sheen took his eyes off the flashing lights to look at Cindy.

"Welcome back Ci…HOLY ULTRALORD!" Sheens reaction was starting to resemble Libby's. Sheen was very confused... at least more confused than usual. He remembered the 13 year old Cindy. The loud and angry Cindy. The almost too skinny looking girl who wore pink sneakers and Capri pants. He guessed she had a pretty face..but she was a little awkward looking like most 13 year olds, but there was nothing awkward about the way she looked now. She looked mature, confident, happy; not only that but she had filled out quite nicely too…_STOP SHEEN!! CUT IT OUT!_ Sheen had to reprimand himself. Of course he knew he was in love with Libby and no one else, but what could he say? He was guy, they can't help that kind of stuff.

"What Sheen?" Libby questioned giving him a look that said you better not be getting any ideas.

"Errrrr..nothing! Welcome back Cindy." Cindy raised an eyebrow, but just let it slide; she was hoping Sheen hadn't turned into one of those boyfriends who liked to flirt with other girls.

"Hey Sheen…it's great to see you again" What she remembered of Sheen was that he could be intolerably annoying, but she dealt with it for Libby's sake, but then again she was a lot more laid back then she used to be so maybe she could like him now. What she wanted to know now was where was Carl? And although she didn't want to admit it where was Jimmy? _Great, and I was doing so well at forgetting his existence. _She decided to just ask about the former.

"So… where's Carl?" Libby answered her question for her.

"Oh he didn't come to this one… he's not really into the party scene, drinking upsets his stomach, and the smoke bothers his allergies.

"Is he still allergic to everything?"

"Actually he found a good medication, but he's still as careful as ever." Cindy smiled. It was comforting to know that her old friends hadn't become completely different people.

" Well now that we are all well acquainted again… where can I get a drink?" Well it was a party… and she was known to be a hard partier. _And if I'm going to run into Jimmy at any minute I might need one… or two…ok Cindy try not to get shitfaced your first day back._

"Right here cutie" interrupted a guy. She spun around trying to guess who was trying to make a pass at her. She had to look up to see his face. He had tan skin and perfect dark hair. That only meant one thing.

"I'm Ni- "

"Nick. I could tell" she cut him off. She didn't want to appear rude, so she smiled brightly as she said it.

" Do I know you ? …I really need to start keeping track of the girls I hook up with" _Pft. Is he serious? What a player… a really good looking player though. _Cindy rolled her eyes as if she had heard him say this line before.

"You used to… but from the looks of it now it seems you're the one trying to get my attention." She told him with a sly grin remembering back when she had a girly crush on Nick. Nick looked like he was trying really hard to piece it together. Libby started to get more annoyed, and interjected.

"It's Cindy Nick. Don't be so dense." It finally clicked in Nicks head. He didn't look as surprised as Libby or Sheen, but then again Nick always tried to play it cool.

" I think this party just got a whole lot better." he said as he handed her a drink and slung his arm around her shoulders. She really didn't care, as long as he didn't get too touchy _It actually might be some fun to mess with him._ She was no slut, but there was no harm in some innocent flirting.

Sheen looked at Cindy talking to Nick and was curious if she was actually interested in him or humoring him. She looked like she knew how to handle guys like Nick... or had met a lot like him. Sheens mind drifted and he thought _Where's Jimmy _and _Is he with her?_

About 2 Minutes earlier ( this overlaps in time with the last scene until the end)

Jimmy in fact was with her. Pushed up against a bathroom wall by her to be exact. That her would be Betty Quinlan. Betty had asked him if he wanted to "talk" for awhile. Well what they were doing now did not involve much of that.

He remembered she had said " I've wanted to do this for a very long time." before she crashed her lips on to his own. He didn't protest, and now found himself kissing her back with the same enthusiasm. He thought Betty was very good looking, but was an airhead. He hadn't had much to drink, so he knew his actions were quite his own. Betty had been dropping hints ever since he hit puberty, which had supposedly done wonders for him. Betty flirted with just about every guy so he didn't think she might actually try anything on him. Guess he was wrong.

Hands roamed, and Betty slid her hands from the back of his head, down his chest, and grabbed onto his belt buckle. Jimmy didn't expect that. _Ok so this might go further than I thought… _

"You're about to get very lucky James" Betty whispered against his lips. For some reason she called him James, maybe because she thought it made her special and because he let her say it. Betty was very competitive when it came to guys, and since she knew that she wasn't the only girl in school who took notice to how good looking he had gotten, she felt she had to claim him first. This would be the perfect way, at least in her mind. And with such good timing, nothing was standing in her way.

Jimmy was pretty sure he didn't want to lose his virginity at a party in Nick Dean's bathroom, but Betty seemed determined and he couldn't complain; countless guys in school prayed for the day they could get with her. He responded to her statement by pushing her against the sink behind them and running his hands up her shirt.

Her fingers had just started to undo the buckle of his belt when the background music of the party got significantly lower. Betty seemed not to notice and she started to pull his belt through the loops. Jimmy however couldn't help but be suspicious of what was going on outside and pulled away from her lips for a second. Betty felt him get distracted and began to push his shirt up to get him refocused. Jimmy turned his head back to Betty giving her a slightly apologetic look and lifted her onto the sink, continuing what they started. He almost had her jeans undone when he heard Nick's voice loud and clear say "HEY EVERYONE! CINDY VORTEX IS BACK IN RETROVILLE"

He stopped dead in his tracks. Betty looked at him with a slightly pissed face for stopping them for a second time.

He must have heard wrong. That couldn't be right. Maybe he was imagining it. _I've been breathing in too many chemicals from the lab _

"I WOULD JUST LIKE TO SAY THE LOVELY CINDY VORTEX IS GRACING US WITH HER PRESENCE AND WHOEVER ISN'T NICE TO HER WILL HAVE TO ANSWER TO ME." That one he was sure he heard. _It couldn't be. She moved all the way to New York. There's no way she's here. _

Betty used her hand to turn his face away from the bathroom door and gave him a threatening look. By the look of it, Betty must have heard Nick's announcement too. Jimmy was just having a hard time believing it, until he heard a female's voice giggle then say

"Nick, really, you didn't have to do that, I'm sure the whole town of Retroville just heard you, and I can definitely announce my own arrival."

Jimmy turned and sped out the bathroom door before Betty could even react. He left her there sitting on the sink, his belt lying carelessly on the floor.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?!" Betty yelled after him.

But he didn't hear her. He didn't even acknowledge that he had just walked out on the most popular girl in high school. He had to make sure with his own eyes that it was indeed Cindy Vortex.

"Every beginning is a consequence - every beginning ends something." ~Paul Valery

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NOTE: Hope you didnt find that completely boring haha, it will pick up. This is also deffinatley a Jimmy/Cindy fic, all the Betty and Nick stuff is for plot reasons. Just in case anyones wondering, this takes place alittle into their junior year of highschool. sorry i didnt put in Carl =( i always feel like he gets lost in the shuffle, but I felt like i was already introducing alot of characters, he will be in this story though. Reviews are helpful, i would just like to know how im doing with this.

-Dreaming of Dance


	3. Brief Encounters

Well hello, its been quite awhile since i updated this story. Im sorry =/ i hate when im reading a story i like that stops getting updated, so i promise that i will try harder to get updates out sooner. I finally found a bit of inspiration as to what i wanted to do with this chapter, so i hope that it is enjoyable to read and not noticable that at points i was completely stuck. So heres chaptrer three =)

disclaimer: i don't own Jimmy Nuetron nor the song "Shots", but this story is alll mine :D

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"We sometimes encounter people, even perfect strangers, who begin to interest us at first sight, somehow suddenly, all at once, before a word has been spoken." -Fydor Dostoevsky

"Nick thanks for the introduction… but that wasn't necessary" Cindy voiced as she stood next to Nick, who because of his announcement had everyone at the party currently staring at her. She didn't mind the attention really, all she was left to do was smile while everyone contemplated their reaction to her presence.

"Well babe, I thought _everyone_ had the right to know you're back" He had this look on his face when he said that, like for some reason he knew that her return could stir up a lot of trouble. She didn't mind it though, no one really likes to admit it but doing something you could get in trouble for is always fun. Libby then interrupted their conversation.

"Well Nick if you don't mind, I think Cindy might want to go see her other old classmates..Excuse us" she said as she took Cindy's arm and led her away from Nick.

"Trust me girl, Nick Dean only wants one thing from girls, you've been here for only 5 minutes and I could already see him undressing you with his eyes."

" Don't worry about me Libby" she knew the Nick Dean type; the player, the kind of guy who flirted with every girl he saw and was never lonely on a Friday night. She knew his games, too bad she knew how to act just as bad. As Libby guided her through the crowd she got lost in her own thoughts wondering where she was being taken and maybe also wondering if a certain someone had also heard Nick's announcement.

-

Jimmy made his way through the crowd of teenagers. He was determined to get answers, he needed to make sure that it was her. Not because he was excited that she was back, he couldn't even say it made him happy to hear what Nick said, but he just needed to know. _Finally when I forgot about her she turns up…_ there was a weird feeling in the pit of his stomach when he remembered the way she left: without a word. Jimmy shook away that feeling. He pushed his way past some jocks that were chugging out of beer cans; one turned and patted him on the back.

" You and Quinlan?!?!? Congrats man" _How do people find these things out so quickly…_ He thought that maybe he should correct the athlete and say that nothing had happened...he probably just saw them go into the bathroom together. Jimmy turned away deciding not to waste his time, since the guy was most likely too drunk to remember what he would say. As he sharply turned to walk away he didn't see that he was about to collide with someone.

-

Cindy was brought out of her thoughts as she felt her body bang into someone's chest and her drink fly out of her hands and land on floor. _Oww I really need to watch where I'm going. _She rubbed her arm and stepped back wanting to see who she ran into hard enough that it hurt; but before she looked up all the way she looked at Libby who had an anxious expression on her face. _Why does she look like she's worried? Did I bump into the "bad ass" school bully or something?_ Cindy finally looked up, and was met with blue eyes that she hadn't seen in a very long time.

Jimmy looked down, just as Cindy looked up at him. He just stared at the girl for awhile; for once in his genius life, he didn't know what to think. He could not deny that the first thing he noticed about the girl he had bumped into was that she was strikingly beautiful. Her long blonde hair flowed down past her shoulders to her waist. Her skirt revealed legs that seemed to go on for days. She was tall, but still quite shorter than him. She was thin, but had curves in all the right places. What he noticed the most about her though was her face.

She had these emerald green eyes, eyes that you didn't want to stop looking at. Ones that would draw you in and you couldn't make yourself look away. There was only one other girl he knew that had eyes that were this green. _Is that really her?_

Cindy seemed to be a little confused. She was about 90% sure that the guy staring back at her was Jimmy Neutron; but there was so much that was different about him. For one, she had to look up to see his face. _That's a first. _Back in middle school he was still on the short side, a good couple inches shorter than her; but now he looked like he was standing at about 6'2. He even looked athletic, but not overly so. He was just in a black tee shirt and jeans, and his hair looked a bit disheveled, and not anymore in that ice cream hair style. He looked all grown up and dare she admit that there was something undeniably sexy about him? _I did not just think that. No way. _But she could feel her heart start to quicken, which was weird because she never usually got like this from just looking at a guy. Maybe this was the reason why she had tried so hard to forget about him when she moved away, but now here he was not even 2 feet away from her. She had to think of something to say quickly, it looked like a lot of people from the party had gathered around not sure what either would do.

"Surprised to see me Neutron?" Yup. That was definitely Cindy. No one ever called him by just his last name besides her. It was just hard to believe that this goddess looking girl before him was her. What was he supposed to say to her? Hey long time no see? Nice to have you back? Why are you here? Well that last one he actually did want to ask, but they hadn't spoken a word to each other in over 3 years.

"You okay? You look a bit shell shocked." She said with a hint of sarcasm to her voice. As much as Cindy convinced herself that she was passed that phase in her life she couldn't help but tease him.

Hearing her address him for a second time, mocking him no less, he knew he had to respond.

"I'm fine, just wish someone would have warned me that the bitch was back." He knew it made him sound like an asshole, but hey, she started it. Cindy on the other hand wasn't even offended by it, actually she was more focused on how the deepness in his voice was sending shivers down her spine.

"Aw don't flatter me, I might start blushing." that was true, but not for the reason she said.

"I didn't mean that as a compliment."

"Damn Neutron, you've become rusty at this." He found it funny how they were pretty much insulting each other yet he was smiling and couldn't tear his eyes away from her.

" You've got to be kidding me." Cindy heard Libby say and come to stand in between them. After bumping into each other they actually hadn't moved back much and were having their little "introduction" still only a foot away from each other.

"You two haven't seen one another in three years and the first thing you do is argue."

"What can I say? Old habits die hard." Cindy said to her still not taking her eyes off of Jimmy.

"Guess she's right. For once." Cindy just laughed. She came to this party looking for some fun, and she was surprised that this little exchange was actually quite exciting. _She has a nice laugh. _Jimmy was actually thinking along the same lines, he had forgotten how entertaining arguing with Cindy was; even though everyone else was probably groaning, thinking "Here they go again."

"Come on guys, really? After all this time you're gonna start this shit again."

"Sorry Libby." They both happened to say at the same time.

"What's going over here?" Said a voice Cindy didn't exactly recognize, but soon the voice was matched with its owner as a dark haired beauty approached them.

Jimmy had somehow forgotten about Betty altogether, even though he had been all over her only minutes ago. Betty draped her arm around Jimmy, and looked Cindy up and down.

"You're back? I don't see what the big fuss is about."

"Nice to see you too Betty." She tried to not have an edge to her voice. Betty's only response was a forced smile. She could tell right away that it was Betty and she looked agitated to see her. _I just got here… so why does she look so pissed to see me? _With the way she had her arm around Jimmy it seemed like she was almost possessive of him, like she was trying to show her that he was hers.

" I didn't know you two were together." Cindy said. She knew she couldn't assume just from the display before her but asking was just too tempting.

"We aren't." Jimmy said looking at Cindy again, but when he said it Betty didn't look like she agreed. Well this was getting a bit awkward.

"Hey cutie I saw you drop your drink so I got you a new one." Nick suddenly appeared handing her another drink. She was surprisingly thankful that he interjected. She took the drink from him graciously lifting it up to her mouth. She could strongly smell the hard liquor and took a big gulp. Now that Betty had arrived the room felt tense.

She finished off her drink, taking time to lick the remaining alcohol off her lips. Jimmy didn't even try to hide that he was staring at her, while Betty was shooting him a death glare.

The song "Shots" started blaring through the speakers at the party, everyone dispersing, drunkenly singing along and downing drinks.

"I love this song." Cindy said as she grabbed nicks arm "dance with me.", she was getting sick of the way Betty was looking at her, and she could feel herself getting buzzed enough to just want to let loose. Nick didn't object as he led her away before Libby could protest. Jimmy watched them walk off; feeling pissed but couldn't figure why.

"Oh great she doesn't know what she is gonna get herself in…" Libby couldn't finish her sentence for Sheen had picked her up and dragged her off to dance. Once they were out of sight, Betty turned Jimmy to face her and whispered in his ear

"So do you want to pick up where we left off?" Then she kissed him firmly on the lips. She wasn't about to just let some blond bimbo walk in and take all of his attention off of her. Yes, she knew that they had some sort of twisted crush on each other years ago but she wasn't going to let that get in her way. When Betty Quinlan wanted something, she got it.

-

The party continued as it went from late at night to the early hours of the morning. Cindy knew that she was definitely drunk as she grinded with Nick not having a care in the world. Occasionally she would glance around the slightly wobbly room watching the party. She knew Libby was off somewhere with Sheen. She had also noticed that Betty had not left Jimmy's side, and occasionally she would pull him into a fierce make-out session. Not that she really cared…much… it was just so surprising to see how things were so different. In elementary and middle school Jimmy had always been the one who gave pathetic displays of trying to get her attention, and now she was sure Betty would put a leash on him to make sure he was hers.

Nicks hands slid up and down her sides, it was obvious he wanted her. Cindy felt the need to distance herself from him before he got carried away.

"I'll be back."

"I'll be waiting babe." She smiled and chastely kissed him on the cheek. It wasn't until she walked away that she realized she was having trouble walking in a straight line. She felt the urge to use the bathroom and using what she remembered about Nick's house she found the bathroom. She knocked a couple times with no answer, and then she heard the sound of gagging from the door. Looks like Nick was going to have some cleaning up to do. She slouched against the door, frustrated, until she recalled that Nick had a bathroom upstairs too. She went up the stairs, holding on the rail to make sure she didn't fall, being drunk and wearing heels wasn't always the best mix.

She went to the second door on her right, and finding it open thankfully took the opportunity to relieve herself. After she had taken care of business she held on to the counter to stable herself. Before exiting the bathroom, Cindy smoothed her top and skirt, and ran her fingers through her hair. She was almost out of the doorway when she felt the heel of her shoe catch on the hallway rug and before she knew it she was falling. Being too tipsy to do anything she closed her eeyes waiting for the imminent contact with the floor. Except it didn't come. Instead she felt herself get caught by a pair of strong arms.

"Seems like your falling all over me tonight." Once her feet were steady on the ground she looked up to find Jimmy for the second time that night. _Déjà vu much?_

"If I weren't thankful to you for saving me a face plant and rug burn, I would call you cocky."

"No rude remark? Maybe it's you who is the one who is getting rusty at this." The smell of his cologne wafted into her nose _Damn he smells so good, _she laughed to cover up if he caught her sniffing him.

"Anyways, what brings you up here, you looked pretty busy with your girlfriend." He narrowed his eyes at her.

"She's not my girlfriend, well not yet at least."

"Oh so you're finally going to live your dream of dating Betty Quinlan."

"Sounding bitter aren't we."

"No not at all, you two are perfect for each other. The bitchy attention whore and the narcissistic brainiac." She flashed him a toothy smile basking in the victory of good comeback.

"You know they say pretty girls should keep their mouths shut."

"And who's going to shut me up? You? Just because you got taller doesn't mean I still couldn't kick your ass."

" I would love to see you try Vortex."

"Alright fine." She said then untangled herself from his grasp, which she just realized that she was still in, and stood away from him.

"Okay give me your best shot." He said as he chuckled.

She got in a fighting stance, but burst out laughing instead of following through with her attack.

"Okay so I'm bluffing, I wouldn't really fight you…well unless you deserved it. "

"Knew it. You've gotten soft."

"Soft?" She said and she playfully punched him in the arm.

"Hey?! What happened to the non-violence? That kinda hurt."

"It was supposed to moron." she replied and went to hit him again but he caught her arm.

"What are you afraid of me?" she asked. He just shook his head as he stared into her eyes. Her lips were tuned up into an alluring smile, her face almost glowing in the dimly lit hallway. She was beautiful, he couldn't lie. She stared back at him, his face only mere inches from her own. It was weird, it had been so long since she had seen him, and yet she felt so comfortable. He could feel it too, it was like no time had passed, and although they were arguing as always it was different, maybe almost flirty. There was a strange attraction between them and they both felt it.

"Quit trying to stare me down Neutron, you aren't going to win."

"Oh really." He said as he moved forward backing her up against a wall. "what are you going to do about it." This was getting to be too much, they were completely against another, she could feel his heartbeat and his breath against her face. She couldn't look anywhere but directly at him. Jimmy wasn't sure what he was doing but he didn't care. He placed his hand against her shoulder to ensure that she wouldn't be able to go anywhere.

"Fine… I surrender." She said just loud enough for him to hear her. And with that his mouth was on hers in an instant.

There was nothing shy about this kiss, their lips moved against each other in a heated frenzy. His tounge moving against hers as she moaned in the back of her throat. She grabbed at his hair, pulling him closer to her if at all possible. He moved his hand down her body stopping at her leg and picked it up, wrapping it around him. He had never felt this almost need to be closer to someone. He felt like he couldn't get enough. This was so intense, nothing that he had ever experienced. It was almost like they were hungry for each other. He pulled away from her lips and trailed kisses against her jaw and down her neck to her collarbone. She let out choked out panting breaths, and his lips were soon against hers again. Cindy never felt like she had lost complete control before, but he was making her feel things she never did. His lips were so soft and inviting and she felt goose bumps as his hand made its way up her skirt. They both could tell they were getting more turned on by the second.

Suddenly they heard footsteps coming up the stairs and pulled apart looking at each other both in a state of confusion as to what just happened between them and nervousness because they were about to get caught in the act.

"James… are you up here?"

At that moment the same thought crossed their minds.

Betty. Oh Shit.

"The more things seem to change, the more they stay the same" –Corinne Bailey Rae

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Author's Note:

There it is chapter three, not so amazing for something that took me months to get out, but i hope it was still entertaining. I think the rating for this might need to go up, maybe not now, but in a few chapters if the story gets to the point i want it to. Or maybe it should be M for all the drinking? i dunnnooo lol, so if anyone is offended in some way let me know. If there are spelling/grammar errors sorry, its almost 1 am and i have to up for schol in 5 hours X/. And i coudn't help myself but throw the song "Shots" by LMFAO in there, i was listening to it as i wrote this, and just because i love the song. So enough of my rambling. Review pleaseeee

-Dreaming of Dance


	4. A Truce For Now

It only took me like 4 months but finally i finished this chapter! woohooo. Sorry for the long wait i hope the long chapter makes up for it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Jimmy Neutron

"She was designed to be the troublemaker and stir things up. She wasn't evil, she was naughty."

~ Donna Mills

Cindy quickly pushed Jimmy off of her trying not to lose her balance. Before he could comprehend exactly what was happening she shoved him into the bathroom.

"What are you doing?" He whispered loudly.

"Saving our asses, just follow my lead." She closed the door and adjusted her outfit. Ahead she could see Betty coming to the top of the staircase. She leaned against the doorframe and crossed her arms over her chest to achieve the look of someone who was waiting for something. She saw Betty begin to walk through the hall looking around, until she spotted Cindy. Betty narrowed her eyes at her.

"Oh it's you." She said with some malice in her voice. What was this girl's deal. She hadn't done anything to her; that she knew of.

"Are you looking for something Betty?" Cindy replied and tapped her foot.

"Actually, I'm looking for James."

"Oh right, Neutron, well he might be the one that's in the bathroom, I haven't seen him in a while."

Betty walked passed her and knocked on the door

"Just a minute." Said the boys voice from inside the bathroom. From outside of the bathroom Cindy could hear the "fake" flush of a toilet and then the running of water. Soon after the door opened to reveal Jimmy.

"There you are! I was looking for you." Betty said and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Uhhh yea I just went to use the bathroom."

"Yea I heard some girl was puking in the one downstairs." Interjected Cindy.

"Right!" Said Jimmy. "That's exactly why I came upstairs."

"Okay, how about we get back to the party." Betty asked. She bought it. That was easier than they thought it would be. Betty grabbed Jimmy's hand and smirked at Cindy before walking away, dragging Jimmy with her. Jimmy looked back at Cindy to see her mouthing the words "You owe me."

Well that was close.

"So, fill me in what have you been up to these past years." Libby excitedly asked Cindy. It was the day after Nick's party, a Sunday to be exact. The rest of the party went on as if nothing had happened between Jimmy and Cindy. The occasional glance at the other had occurred on both parts, but nothing more than that. Everyone didn't go home until the early hours of the morning and Cindy hadn't seen Jimmy since. Cindy had spent the day unpacking with the help of Libby and they decided to go out to eat to talk.

"Well let's see, life in New York is pretty different than life here. The city is always busy, there's never nothing to do, and it's absolutely beautiful at night. I had some crazy times there." She smiled, thinking about some of the fun times her and her friends had.

"What was school like?" Libby asked.

"I went to an all girls private school." Libby looked at her with distaste.

"All girls? How did you do that?" Honestly how could she survive in a school that was only girls?

"It wasn't that bad all of the time; it was just a lot of drama."

"What kind of drama?"

"I guess you could say your status was very important, and if you were popular everyone was always looking for gossip on who you hung out with, what parties you went to and what guys you dated."

"Really? That's kinda shallow." Cindy shrugged.

"You got used to it after awhile. That's just the way it was. At my school there were girls that would kill to be in the popular crowd."

"So where exactly did you fall? I mean looking at you there's no way that you could be a social reject or something." Libby said before taking a sip of her soda. Cindy had a feeling she would have to explain what her and her friends were like, but honestly there was no way to explain it without making her sound bad. She didn't want to flat out say she was a part of that exclusive group that did whatever they wanted, got whatever they wanted, and didn't care who liked it or not. She opted to sugar coat it a bit.

"Well, you're right. You could say I was well liked. But I think it came more because my best friend Tessa in NY was known as the queen bee of the school. When I got there it was bluntly apparent that all the girls wanted to be just like her. So being her best friend, made me part of that. It's not that we weren't friends with the other girls, we just were a duo. From when I first moved to NY we just clicked and were friends ever since. She introduced me to all her guy friends from other schools. She was my partner in crime; we made a hell of a lot of trouble." The corners of Libby's lips turned down, and Cindy could tell that she felt a little hurt that she had found a new best friend when she left.

"Libs, don't worry, no one could ever take your place. You're the sister I never had." Libby's frown disappeared.

"Good, I was starting to think every part of the old Cindy had changed." Cindy forced herself to smile. The truth was Cindy knew she wasn't the same girl that had grown up in Retroville, and she knew she didn't want to go back to being that girl.

"So I see you and Sheen are still going strong." Cindy said to get the subject off of herself. Libby blushed at the mention of her hyperactive boyfriend.

"Yes, we've been together for almost seven years now on and off"

"Wow, that's great. I bet he makes you really happy."

"He does, yea he's a bit neurotic, but I love him." It was sweet how Libby's face lit up when she talked about him.

"I saw you two go off alone yesterday at the party, what happened there." Cindy asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Uhhh, ya know." Libby said blushing.

"So that's code for making out somewhere?"

"Haha yea…"

"C'mon Libs, don't act all shy with me. I wouldn't be surprised if you guys have had sex already."

"Cindy! Not so loud!" Libby jumped out of her seat a little.

"So…. Have you?" Cindy said in a quieter voice. Libby leaned in closer to Cindy.

"No. Not yet. I'm not sure if we're ready yet. But anyways, what happened at the party while we were gone." Until Libby said that Cindy had almost forgotten about the heated kiss that her and Jimmy shared. Just from thinking about it she could almost feel the tingling sensation that was left on her lips when they had parted.

"Something happened didn't it?

"What?" Cindy was too busy thinking about Jimmy kissing her, to realize Libby was talking to her.

"I said something happened didn't it."

"Oh, well…"

"Please don't tell me you hooked up with Nick."

"No, not with Nick."

"Then who?" _What's the point in lying, she would find out eventually anyways. _

"Alright, alright. I might of, well maybe… hooked up with Jimmy in a hallway."

"WHAT? When? How did that happened?"

"I don't know! One minute we were arguing and joking around. The next he was all over me. It just happened."

"Stuff like that doesn't just happen Cin."

"Libby it's not a big deal." _People hooked up at parties all the time, so what?_

"Not a big deal? Did anyone see?"

"Nope."

"I can't believe that after all this time you still like him."

"What! Hell no. Just because we made out doesn't mean that I like him."

"Sure it doesn't. So tell me…" Cindy rolled her eyes, thinking that Libby was about to keep on persisting that she still had a crush on Neutron.

"How was it?"

"What? The kiss?" _What am I supposed to tell her?_

"Yes, I want all the dirty details."

"It was…" _Hot, spontaneous, and amazing? Probably the best kiss I've ever had. _

"It was just a kiss Libby." If she told Libby what she really thought about the kiss then she would never believe that she didn't still have a thing for Jimmy.

"You know I don't buy that for a second Cindy, but okay, I'll let it slide… for now."

"Whatever, like I said before I don't like Neutron. I couldn't care less about him."

Cindy walked through the halls of Retroville High School. It was funny how when she first moved away she thought that she would never attend high school with all her old friends but now here she was, finding her way to her first period calculus class. The beginning of the day had been pretty boring; she had to go to the main office to make sure that it was official that she was enrolled. Then she was sent to the guidance office to pick up her schedule from her guidance counselor. So now she was trying to find her way to the classroom with the directions that she was given. Libby had offered to show her around school but it turned out that they had barely any classes together except for English and Gym. Cindy was taking a lot of hard courses including calculus, AP chemistry, AP European history, AP psychology and AP English. Gym and the required health class were her only easy classes. That was the one thing she could say that didn't change. She knew she was intelligent and she wanted to be the best. She still never slacked off when it came to school work and always was at the top of her class.

Cindy finally arrived at the classroom and knocked on the door. A tall male teacher answered the door. He looked like he was in his early thirties.

"Hi I'm Cindy Vortex."

"Hello you must be the new student."

"Yes that would be me."

"Well welcome to the class. I'm Mr. Andrews" He said as he opened the door wider. Cindy walked in and surveyed the classroom. Everyone looked not too happy to be in a math class at seven in the morning. All except for one student. _Oh great._

"Class this is Cindy Vortex she will be joining us." Cindy could see familiar people whispering to each other. Most likely old classmates of hers who might of recognized her name, or people from the party that thought she looked familiar.

"Cindy would you like to say anything to the class?" Mr. Andrews asked her. Cindy turned to face the class.

"My name is Cindy Vortex, I used to live here so I know some of you should already know me and-"

"And you should say that your loud, obnoxious, and really aren't as smart as you think you are." Cindy moved her head as she took on a look of annoyance to see the face of Jimmy Neutron. There he was sitting in the front row with accomplishment written all over his features. She was trying to ignore him up until now.

"Jimmy that's no way to speak to a new stu-"

"Oh really Neutron, you would think after a couple of years you would have reached some kind of maturity. I must be sadly mistaken."

"Now hold on a second." Mr. Andrews said halting their banter. "You two know each other I'm guessing?" Jimmy and Cindy stared at each other daring the other to lash out another rude comment. They both decided they would just leave it at that.

"Yes." They both answered.

"Well then Cindy since you and Jimmy seem to be already acquainted why don't you take a seat next to him." Cindy tensed her jaw, but obeyed the teacher and sat in the desk next to Jimmy. As much as it bothered her she didn't want to leave a bad impression on her new teacher. When Mr. Andrews turned around and walked over to the board she looked at Jimmy.

"See now that's no way to repay me for saving you."

"I never said I was going to."

"Well you could at least not act like a jackass, maybe I'll go tell Betty what you were doing when you left her at the party.

"You wouldn't"

"Try me." They stared each other down, after awhile Jimmy finally responded.

"Fine. Sorry."

"Look. Obviously we are going to be seeing a lot of each other, knowing my luck we probably have more than this class together."

"Give me your schedule." Cindy reached in her bag and gave him the sheet of paper. Jimmy took it and read it over.

"I hate when the rare occasion arises that you're right."

"Wait seriously?"

"Yea, except for gym and history."

"Wonderful, I think I hate when I'm right too. So I guess that just proves my point. We are going to be forced to see each other so how about a truce."

"A truce?"

"Yes. Trust me it's not like I want to be your best friend, but for everyone else's sake we don't need to repeat elementary school." Jimmy took some time to think it over, maybe she was right and they should quit the fighting.

"Okay. Truce it is."

"Good. Oh and one more thing."

"What Vortex."

"That kiss never happened."

"You know you don't wish that." He said and smiled at her. What was with him. First he insulted her now he was smiling at her with those deep blue eyes of his.

"Excuse me?"

"I'm just saying you seemed pretty enthusiastic during it."

"Do I need to remind you that you're the one who kissed me." She said very quietly, but with an attitude. Jimmy's smile faltered. Yea he remembered that. Frankly, he didn't know what came over him. He just couldn't help himself. It was weird; he had spent years trying to get Betty Quinlan's attention. Now he had it and he had gone and made out with Cindy, who he hadn't seen in three years, the first chance he got. He didn't want to think about it too much as to why he had done it, if one thing was for certain Jimmy didn't like to dissect his feelings.

"Yea but it's not like you pushed me away."

"Well I had been drinking." She stated matter of factly.

"If that excuse makes you feel better." This was supposed to be a truce, so if it meant sacrificing a bit of her pride for a moment so be it.

"You know what Jimmy. You're right, there is no excuse. It must be because I couldn't resist your ridiculously good looks and your amazing charm that I just had to throw myself at you." She said over exaggeration in the tone of her voice. Just because she was going to swallow her pride didn't mean she couldn't have fun with it.

"Real funny."

"Glad you think so. Remember this is supposed to be a truce."

"We made a truce to not fight; no one ever said I couldn't mess with you." Honestly what did she expect? Their whole relationship from day one had consisted of taunting, competing, and playing tricks on each other.

"Looks like you like to mess with me in more ways than one." She smirked suggestively.

"Cindy." Said the voice of Mr. Andrews cutting off whatever Jimmy was going to say next.

"Yes?"

"We are learning derivatives are you familiar with them? If not then you can just try to pick up on it or get help after school."

"We learned derivatives at my last school a few weeks ago." Jimmy looked at Mr. Andrews. He was good at his job and he was a pretty cool teacher since he was still young. But it was evident to him that the teacher had an attraction to Cindy. She might not have noticed it but while he was asking her about the coursework he had a certain engaged expression. Plus he never offered extra help so willingly to his higher level students. Then again with the floral summer dress she was wearing topped with her natural beauty it was hard not to find her beautiful. Her hair cascaded down her back like a golden waterfall. He wondered if she knew that in parts of his and her conversation she smiled in a way that most men would think was flirting. No wonder Mr. Andrews offered her extra help; but still he was a teacher he shouldn't be checking out his students.

"Well I'm sure that you will succeed in this class then Ms. Vortex." Mr. Andrews said and smiled at her.

"Yea I will." Why did Cindy feel as if he was looking at her for a little bit too long. The conversation was clearly over. The calculus teacher finally turned around and walked back over to the board.

"Alright students let's get back to the equations…"

"So how was the party the other night?" Carl asked Libby and Sheen. It was third period passing time and Libby was going to meet up with Cindy to go to English. Sheen answered Carl speaking at a ridiculously fast rate.

"It was awesome, you should have come. First Jimmy vanishes with Betty, then I got my groove on, then Cindy shows up, then her and jimmy crashed into each other, then they were staring at each other, then they were fighting, and then-"

"How about you just let me tell him Hun?" Carl looked completely and utterly confused. Sometimes Sheen got a little too excited…or more than a little. Libby thought she should clear up things for Carl's sake.

"I'm sure you've heard by now that Cindy is back in Retroville?"

"Umm no?"

"No? Didn't you tell him Sheen?"

"I assumed Jimmy would have said something." Libby crinkled her forehead. That was weird. Why wouldn't Jimmy have mentioned anything to Carl? Especially after Cindy spilled that they hooked up.

"Well anyways, Cindy showed up to Nick's party and said how she is moving back."

"Really? That's great." Carl was happy to hear the news. Unbeknownst to their friends Cindy and Carl had become really close before she left. The summer before seventh grade Libby got really caught up in being in a relationship. She didn't mean to but she was starting to neglect hanging out with her all her girl friends; Cindy included. That also meant Sheen was always with Libby as well. Carl still had Jimmy, but for half of the summer Jimmy went away to a science camp. So with everyone gone Cindy and Carl started to hang out more often. It turned out they had a lot more in common than they thought. Yes, when they first met Cindy wasn't a big fan of him, and Carl thought Cindy was scary; but they learned to understand why each other was the way that they were. Carl had to admit, having a friend that was a girl had its benefits. Things that he knew he couldn't talk about with the guys became things that were so easy to talk to a girl about; such as his huge crush on Jimmy's mom. So when Cindy moved away he felt like he lost someone that he wasn't going to be judged by.

"Look here she comes now…with Jimmy… and they don't look like they are arguing…?"

Jimmy and Cindy made their way toward the lockers that Libby, Sheen, and Carl were standing.

"How the hell do you understand that teacher?" Cindy asked. Her and Jimmy had just come from chemistry class. Chemistry wasn't Cindy's favorite subject but this teacher just made it worse. She had an incredibly thick Russian accent which made it really hard to understand her.

"I don't need to be able to understand her; I already know everything I need to about chemistry."

"Well not all of us are lucky enough to be a genius." Jimmy was surprised that they were having a normal conversation without any hints of sarcasm. Maybe she was serious about this truce thing.

"Hey there's Libby, Sheen, and Carl."

Cindy looked into the direction that he nodded. Finally for the first time since she came back she saw Carl. Which was quite surprising since he practically lived across the street from her. He still had the same vibrant red hair, freckles and glasses. He looked like he was only a little taller than she, but it seemed he had lost a lot of his baby fat. He wasn't skinny, but he wasn't fat either. She smiled when she saw him. She really had missed him. He always had such a sweet and caring personality. Cindy remembered how close they had gotten before she left. She remembered how she spilled to him how she had felt about Jimmy, and how he used to give her advice. Besides Libby he was the only person that she had ever cried in front of. She had even blurted out to him about her moving before she even had told Libby. He was the best guy friend she had… she had forgotten about all that when she left. Cindy felt bad now thinking about how she really did just forget about Retroville. Cindy walked up to the three friends, Jimmy close behind her.

"Carl!" Cindy exclaimed and wrapped her arms around a startled Carl. Carl jumped for a second but then noticed the familiar blonde hair and relaxed.

"Hey Cin." Carl said and smiled into her shoulder. Cindy pulled away and kissed Carl lightly on the cheek.

"Look at you, your all grown up. I've missed you."

"What about you? You're looking pretty grown up yourself."

Jimmy watched in confusion as Cindy and Carl exchanged hellos and caught up. _What is going on between them? When did they get so close? How come they are so touchy feely? They weren't always like that right? _They looked so familiar with each other. Jimmy was starting to wonder if it was possible that they ever had something…then again wouldn't he have seen it before if they had? Jimmy's thoughts were interrupted as he felt hands cover his eyes. He took the hands off his face and turned around.

"Hey Betty." The lovely brunette kissed the blue eyed genius.

"Where did you disappear to all weekend?" She asked in her smooth voice.

"Oh…you know just in the lab." It was true, but it wasn't any excuse as to why he hadn't called her. Her smile faltered but recovered quickly.

"So tell me, when are you going to take me out on a date?"

"Soon I promise." He grinned at her. It was hard to say no to her brown doe eyes.

The warning bell rang out through the hall way.

"We better go before we are late. Get ready to meet one of the strictest teachers ever Cindy." Libby said breaking Cindy away from her conversation with Carl.

"We'll catch up more later; I wanna know what things were like while I was gone." Cindy said to Carl

"Of course. I'll see you later. Bye Cindy. Bye Libby."

"See you after class Babe." Sheen said and kissed Libby goodbye. Sheen and Carl walked away to their next period class.

"Jimmy are you coming?" Libby called out as she started to walk in the direction of the English classroom.

"I'll be there in a sec."

"Okay suit yourself."

Cindy started walking in the direction that Libby had head off in but didn't turn around all the way. Jimmy and Betty were still in the same spot next to the lockers. Jimmy had his hands on Betty's waist while she played with his hair. _I guess he's finally getting what he wanted all along. She can't keep her hands off him._ Cindy still couldn't believe that somehow in the time she had left, Jimmy had gotten Betty interested in him_._ She would have to ask Carl about that later. Cindy guessed she couldn't blame her though. He did look quite adorable in a red polo and washed out jeans. Even the way he held a pencil behind his ear was cute. And he had that bright smile that made it hard for even her to hate him. So she guessed a truce to be friends might work out.

Jimmy glanced over at Cindy for a second showing the certain smile that she was just talking about. Why did that make her feel like her legs were going to turn into jello? It really shouldn't, it wasn't allowed. They were friends now, or at least trying to be. But then again is it said anywhere that you can't be physically attracted to your friends. If it is, then Cindy might have a problem. And she's not the only one.

"Men and women can't be friends because the sex part always gets in the way." ~When Harry met Sally

Exactly.

Authors note: So there is Chapter four i hope it was good =) I feel like i got all the introduciton stuff done so finally i can get to the actual plot. Carl is finally in the story yay =) i decided to give him a bigger part than i had already planned. i always feel like hes forgotten, poor Carl. Also i wanna know if it is more preffered that i update more frequently with shorter chapters or giving long chapters like how i am now. Soooo pleasee review =)

-Dreaming of Dance


	5. Unleashed Suppression

Seasons greetings! I'm back after a really long break, It's so hard to find time to write when you're in college. I finally got a chapter done though =) It was supposed to be done for Halloween and it's practically Christmas so that just shows how late I am =P

Disclaimer: Still don't own.

* * *

"The worst lies are the lies we tell ourselves." ~ Richard Bach

"So how did this whole Betty and Jimmy thing happen?" Cindy asked Carl as they both lounged on her bed. Almost three weeks had passed since Nicks party, and Halloween was only a few days away.

"Why are you interested?" Carl responded with a questioning smirk.

"Because I want to know why Ms. I'm so perfect and beautiful wants to date a geek like him."

"I was thinking more along the lines of you're a little jealous because you know deep deep deep down you still like him."

"Ugh Carl I do not like him. Have you been talking to Libby?"She glared at him.

"Uh.. no... Libby didn't tell me anything about that kiss.. I mean nothing!" Carl was always such a bad liar.

"So you know too? It meant nothing! How many times do I have to say that?"

"Until it stops being a lie."

"Ugh ill prove it to you. Actually I shouldn't have to prove it to you, Jimmy and I have been doing a pretty good job of being just friends. You should be happy that we're doing that much."

"That my be true..but you could cut the sexual tension with a knife."

"Excuse me?"

"Sure, you two can have normal conversations without jumping down each others throats...but.."

"But what Carl?" Cindy said already annoyed with where this was going.

"Do you know what it looks like when you two talk?"

"What does it matter Carl, this conversation was supposed to be about Jimmy and Betty's relationship not whatever you think is going on between me and Jimmy"

"Just hear me out."

"Okay explain."

"Watching you and Jimmy talk is well, stressful..." Cindy threw him a confused look.

"It's so strained, like you're holding back what you really want to say."

"Carl that makes no sense."

"Yes, it does Cindy and you know it.

"How can you even tell Carl?"

"I can see it all over your faces. You both always look so serious and tense when you talk ever since you decided to be "friends". You guys never stand too close together, hell, you even try not to look at each other for that long...and when you do its like you're not paying attention to anyone else around."

"So?"

"So what I'm saying is, I think you guys are afraid of what would happen if you were to let loose for a second."

"Such as what happened at Nick's party?"

"Right."

"I don't know Carl, Jimmy looks pretty damn interested in Betty. He's gaga for her."

"Maybe, or he just is smart enough to not reject the most popular girl in school."

"You're making me regret asking, can we change the subject already?"

"You'll have to face it sooner or later Cindy. But I'll let you off the hook for now. So are you excited for Nick's Halloween party?"

"Yes, I've been swamped with homework and am in need a break. I used to party so much with my friends when I lived in New York. "

"Oh, do you miss them? It must have been hard leaving them."

"Uhh…yea… I do" She answered hesitantly. She felt a sick feeling in her chest when the reminder of her friends brought back memories of the incident that got her sent back to Retroville.

"If you knew you were going to miss them why did you decide to come back?"

"It wasn't my choice to come back…"

"Then why did you?" Cindy didn't want to answer Carl. She didn't plan on telling anyone why she had come back, but then again Carl was trustworthy.

"I got in trouble… big trouble..." She said not looking at him.

"What kind of trouble?"

"The kind of trouble that gets you expelled."

"Expelled? You were expelled?"

"No..not exactly. The head mistress gave me a choice, if I withdrew from the school on my own then I wouldn't have being expelled on my permanent record. Since my parents couldn't stand the idea of everyone knowing that they had a daughter that was expelled, they decided that I would move back to Retroville...everyone thinks I'm away at boarding school though."

"Wow...what did you do that was so bad?"

"Umm..." Cindy heard the ring of her cell phone go off and couldn't be happier for the timing. She opened it and put it to her ear without checking the caller ID.

"Hello?"

"Hey Babe, wanna do me a favor?" It was Nick, she could tell since he was the only guy here who called her that. Carl looked at her suspiciously.

"Depends on what it is." She answered.

"My parents were supposed to go away and now they're not so I can't have my Halloween party. Since you know, your parents aren't here, I was thinking you could have the party instead."

After giving it some thought she figure why not? Her parents weren't here, and they would never find out.

"Of course I will."

"You're the best."

"I know." She responded in a flirty tone and hung up.

"Who was that?" Carl asked her pointing at her phone.

"Nick. So where's the nearest Halloween store again?"

"About ten minutes away, why?"

"I'm throwing a party."

"Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it's better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring." ~ Marilyn Monroe

Jimmy tugged on the collar of his scrubs as he drove in the direction of his house, while Betty looked into the mirror that folded down on the passenger seat. Betty insisted that they wear couples costumes to Cindy's Halloween party; he went along with it despite the fact that he hadn't worn a costume for Halloween since he was ten. She rearranged the nurses hat that sat on the top of her head and then rubbed her lips together before closing the mirror.

"Aren't you excited to show off our costumes?" She asked clearly content with the short white nurses dress that just covered her butt, red high heels, and nurses hat. Definitely one of those costumes that come from the slutty section of the costume store. Why girls found the need to wear the most revealing costumes they could find just because it was Halloween, he would never understand. He thought Betty was pretty without the skimpy attire. He had finally taken her out on a real date, a couple actually. People were starting to wonder if they were together or not. He and Betty hadn't really discussed becoming official, he figured since things were going well the way they were there was no rush, for now she seemed okay with them just dating.

"Yea, of course." He replied, he really couldn't care about the costumes, but he wouldn't let her know that. He pulled into his driveway, reaching their destination. It was kind of pointless for him to go pick up Betty considering Cindy's house was across the street but she had asked. Just as he got out of the car his cell phone went off.

"Hello?"

"Jimmy where are you! Its crazy over hereeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee." Came the voice of Sheen, Jimmy could already tell he was tipsy.

"Just got back to my house, I'm heading over there now."

"Alrighttttttttttt." And he ended the call.

"Jeeze, she went kinda overboard with the decorations." Betty said as they began to walk towards the house. The house was decked out to look haunted. Lights that were green and purple were cast on the house and yard, fake cobwebs and spiders were draped all over the front porch, and jack-o-lanterns littered the lawn. He thought it looked pretty cool, then again it didn't take a genius to realize Betty didn't like anything that had to do with Cindy.

The inside of the house was decorated as well, and was filled with teens from their high school decked out in costumes. He saw people he recognized from his classes; a vampire talking to a princess, an angel and a cowboy making out on a couch, and football players dressed as themselves. None really concerned him until something, or rather someone caught his eye.

She would never cease to catch him off guard. He wasn't sure what he was staring at more. Was it the black strapless satin bustier showing off her assets, the thigh high sheer black stockings that were attached to the bustier by garters, the high heeled pumps with a strap around her ankle, or the shorts that looked more like underwear? What was he saying again about not liking girls in skimpy costumes? All he knew was that his pulse was racing faster and faster by the minute. He couldn't understand what was bringing on this feeling. He had barely talked to her all week, it was like they had an unspoken mutual agreement not to talk unless it was necessary. So why was he over come with the thought that...he wouldn't even let himself think it. If anything he should stop thinking about this girl with legs for days and remember that he was standing right next to Betty.

"What are you staring at?"

"Uh..." Lucky enough for him Libby, Carl, and Sheen came into view. Had they really been standing next to her that whole time? What was wrong with him?

"I just found Sheen and the gang thats all." He said playing it off. He made his way over to the group of friends as Betty reluctantly followed.

"Hey Jimmy it took you long enough!" Sheen exclaimed dressed in a pirate costume. His hand that that had a fake hook on it was draped on Libby's shoulder. Libby was dressed as a gypsy, like Esmeralda from the Hunchback of Notre Dame.

"What are you supposed to be? A stripper?" Betty spat. There was no question who she was talking to.

"I'm a pin up girl. I could ask you the same question, don't you think the naughty nurse outfit is a little over done." Cindy was fed up with Betty's stupid remarks that she snuck in any chance she got, this was her party and there was no way she was going to let Betty ruin that.

"Can't you both just get along for one night?" Carl interjected, stepping between the two. He was dressed as a nerd with suspenders, a button up shirt, and tape around his glasses. The two girls stared each other down despite Carl standing in the way. Betty was the first to avert her eyes and scoffed.

"Come find me when your done." She said gesturing to Jimmy before she walked away.

"Is she always so charming?" Cindy asked when she was out of earshot.

"Be nice."

"She started it."

"Well you finished it."

"Do you have to stick up for her even when she's being a bitch? Would you let her talk like that to Carl, Sheen or Libby? I don't think so." She wasn't trying to start an argument, really she just didn't feel like being a doormat. And for some reason she hated that he just allowed Betty to say what she wanted and acted like he didn't care. She started to make her way away from the group but paused.

"And Jimmy... my eyes are up here." She rolled her eyes wanting to act like she wasn't at all a little happy at his shocked face. Just because she was chewing him out didn't mean she didn't notice things.

Jimmy was still in shock and trying to cover up the embarrassed blush that was creeping on his face. One, he couldn't believe that she had caught him looking. Two, he couldn't believe she had the nerve to point that out in front of their friends. He figured she kinda had the right though... what she had said about letting Betty say what she wants made him feel bad. Why did it bother him that she might be genuinely upset with him? The laughs of Libby, Carl, and Sheen were drowned out as he wondered if he should go apologize.

She came back inside, cigarette still in hand despite what she said about not allowing anyone to smoke in the house. Right now she was maybe just a little too drunk to care, either that or it was her house and she figured she could do whatever the fuck she wanted. She came into the living room where people were still enjoying the party, and noticed there was a circle of people sitting on floor. There were quite a few people there, Libby and the gang included.

"Hey Babe, I thought you said no smoking in the house?" The voice of Nick coming from the circe.

"My rules don't apply to me sweetie." She responded taking a drag. She felt she was getting odd looks from Libby, and knew she would get questioned about it later. Cindy made it a point to not ever smoke in front of her friends just to avoid the impending talk about how bad it was for her, like she didn't already know. The only person fully aware that she smoked was Nick.

"Well why don't you join the game at least?" She raised an eyebrow.

"What game?"

"Hot seat."

"How do you play?"

"Someone is in the "hot seat", everyone in the circle gets to ask them one question. You can either choose to answer, or take a shot."

"Sure I'm in." She sat down next to Nick.

When it came around to Betty's turn she figured this would be the perfect opportunity to get her back for her little comment earlier that night. Nick was currently asking her a question about if she would ever have a threesome, figures. Betty shot him a glare and responded with a no. So far Betty hadn't avoided anyones people in the circle turned to her awaiting her question, Betty cast her a look that said give me your best shot.

"Where is the craziest place you've ever had sex?" There was one of two things Cindy felt could happen from asking that question. Betty would look stupid by avoiding to answer the question or giving a lame answer. Or it would back fire.

"Excuse me?"

"I'm pretty sure you heard me loud and clear."

"Well thats a stupid question."

"No its not, well... unless..."

"Unless what." Her brown eyes narrowing.

"Don't worry about it Betty, theres nothing wrong with being boring." She smirked. Snickers of laughter could be heard in the circle, Libby was holding her hand over her mouth to avoid laughing out loud.

"I'm not boring!" she exclaimed in self defense.

"Then just answer the question." Betty glanced around the circle to see all eyes on her as everyone awaited her answer.

"Whatever." Betty said, opting to take a shot. A knowing smile graced Cindy's lip as another she took another victory that night. The game continued, and more and more people were choosing to take a shots instead of answering questions. Cindy became concerned as Libby seemed to avoid almost all questions relating to her sex life, in return making Sheen have to as well. She wasn't surprised that Jimmy avoided any questions that people asked him about Betty, which half of the group had chose to ask about. Finally it was her turn in the hot seat, she could already tell that Betty was going to try to get some kind of revenge. She was prepared for anything though, and what Betty didn't know is that she had no shame.

"Are you a virgin?" Was the first question, by some guy she recognized from her gym class.

"No." She answered, with a completely unamused face. She figured most of the questions would be sex related anyway.

Jimmy on the other hand was not so stoic, she seemed so unfazed by the question but her answer kept on repeating over and over in his head like a broken record.

"How many boys have you kissed?" Brittany, who was dressed as a pop star asked her.

"I couldn't tell you if I tried." Betty muttered a "slut" just loud enough under her breath so that Cindy could hear. She chose to ignore it.

"Have you ever kissed anyone in this room?" Libby asked with a devilish grin. Cindy's mouth slightly dropped open at her friend's boldness.

"Yes." Even worse Carl decided to join in on this little joke.

"Who?" She was definitely going to yell at them for this later. She knew Jimmy was nervously avoiding her gaze.

"Pass me the bottle." She would spare him, even though he really didn't deserve it. Betty was next and took her time, still thinking of her question to ask.

"Any day now." She was still thinking and for a moment Cindy thought she was going to come up empty.

"Okay I got it, and I totally understand if you choose not to answer." Mocking her already.

"Stop stalling and just ask already." Betty looked to Jimmy for a second, then directly at Cindy.

"Is it true...that you had the biggest crush on Jimmy Neutron." Complete satisfaction displayed on her features while everyone else was in awe and eagerly wondering what she was going to say. She couldn't believe Betty had come up with a question that completely threw her off. Maybe she wasn't as dumb as she thought. She took a long drag of her newly lit cigarette buying herself time to figure out what the hell she was going to say. She started to reach for the bottle, but then drew her hand back.

"You know what Betty?"

"What, you don't want to tell me the answer?"

"No, even better." She turned her head to face Jimmy.

"Jimmy." He looked up.

"What she asked is completely and 100% true." Everyones face was struck with surprise and Jimmy swore he felt his heart drop into his stomach.

"I had the most ridiculous, hugest, crush on you. For a genius you're not very smart, I mean, hello I acted like I hated you for a reason. Now is that a good enough answer for you Betty?" All that was heard was silence, until Libby broke it.

"Finally!" And she burst into a fit of giggles obviously from way to many shots on her part. That seemed to also confirm that everything she had just said was valid and after that everyone seemed content on ending the game there.

"A drunken mind speaks a sober heart." ~Anonymous

He was trying to find her, it was getting late...or early, however you wanted to put it. He kept having to grab onto walls; that stupid game had gotten him drunker than he had planned. He just needed to find her then he could go home and lay down or something. He made his way up the stairs to the second floor thinking maybe he would find her there. He checked in a couple of rooms, all of which were empty. Then he opened the door to one, curiosity peaking as he stepped in and looked around. It looked so different than the last time he had seen it. The walls that used to be pink were now a light green, the princess style canopy bed was replaced by a Victorian steel bed frame, and all the things that he thought were so girly like the boy band posters were gone.

"What are you doing in here?" Came a soft voice from behind him. Jimmy turned around and scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"Um..I was looking for-"

"Betty?"

"No... you. A friend of hers drove her home already."

"Oh..." She felt oddly strange... it was the first time he'd acknowledged her after her little confession. She still couldn't believe that she just told him that, after years of not being able to, she just spit it out to spite Betty.

"Why are you looking for me?" She went over to her dresser trying to find something to busy herself with, why did she feel so weird now that they were alone?

"I...um.." He grabbed onto her bed frame steadying himself from wavering back and forth.

"You what?" Maybe Carl was right, that when they really talked everything was strained and tense. It wasn't often that they had conversations alone, but why was it proving to be so hard to just talk.

"What you said before..." She already knew what he was referring to, she should have seen this coming. She was quiet, not sure how to continue to respond.

"Cindy..." Still nothing. It just hit her what she had done. She was so caught up that she didn't hear him walk up to her, her back still facing him. She felt a gentle hand touch her bare shoulder and swiveled to face the questioner.

"Huh?"

"What you said..." His blue eyes bore into her green ones.

"What about it?" Her tone was just above a whisper.

"Were you just saying that...to piss off Betty or.." She turned her head. Having to say it again, and with him looking at her so honestly was a completely different situation than before. She wasn't putting on a show this time...it was for real.

"No, I meant every word." Still choosing not to face him.

"Why didn't you tell me..." Silence again. He took her chin in his hand and made her face him. Her eyes still wouldn't connect.

"I don't know."

"Yes you do." He needed to know why she never told him when it seemed everyone already knew.

"I was...scared."

"Scared? C'mon Cindy you're not scared of anything."

"I didn't know what you would think... you have no idea...I really did genuinely like you." She chose her words carefully. "Ever since I met you I just... I can't explain it..it took me long enough to come to grips with it myself let alone tell you about it." He noticed what a deep red her lips were as she tried to ellaborate.

"...And I thought it was impossible that you would ever feel the same."

"Why would you think that?"

"Because... I wasn't your type, you liked Betty even back then."

"Cindy...Can you just look at me." He rubbed his thumb against her jaw bone

"You're making me feel like an idiot. I'm confessing all this to you and I look completely stupid." He shook his head.

"Oh really, then what do you think I look like?"

"Beautiful...I've always thought you were beautiful." Thats when she finally looked him in the eye.

"Your blushing." He let out a chuckle.

"I'm glad that you find this funny." She reached up to cover her cheeks forgetting that his hand was already there. When her hand connected with his, it was like electricity was shooting up her arm. She wondered if he felt it too. She let her hand run down the back of his hand and down his arm letting it rest in the crook of his elbow. His visibly shivered. He leaned down and pressed his lips gently against her forehead.

"Not only do I think you're beautiful...you're smart, and you know thats hard enough for me to admit." That got a giggle out of her, but he returned back to a serious tone. His lips then hovered next to her ear, and she leaned in closer to his body, resting her other hand on his chest.

"And you make it really hard not to find you sexy, especially in that outfit you're trying to pass off as clothing." She drew little circles with her finger on his chest, trying not to let herself fall for his words.

"You need to stop..."

"Stop what."

"This...whatever it is your trying to do. Just stop saying all of these things when you don't even know me."

"Don't know you? I've known you for years."

"I'm not the same girl...trust me. If you knew me... you wouldn't being telling me any of this."

"Why do you always assume you know what I'm thinking?"

"I'm not assuming-"

"Yes you are. You never thought that it was possible that I liked you too; or that I'm saying all this because it's true, and maybe theres a lot that I don't know about you...but maybe I want to find out."

"Jimmy, stop. Before I end up doing something I shouldn't." Right as she finished her sentence the lights flickered then went completely out leaving them in darkness. Sounds of protest could be heard from outside as people started to filter out of her house.

"A fuse most likely blew, I should go fix it." He let go of her, walking towards the door. She felt the empty space where he had stood, her face cooling down from the absence of his hand.

"Wait." The sound was faint, barely audible, but he heard it. The sound of the heels of her shoes slowly hitting the floor, got louder as she approached him. The trickle of light that was starting to seep through the window outlined her silhouette, a shadowy hand resting where it had been on his chest, the other on his neck. He felt the brush of her nose against his before her lips hesitantly touched his own. The kiss was soft and innocent, completely gentle in every way. He enveloped her tiny waist in his arms, pulling her body against his in a delicate manner. The kiss slightly deepened but remained it's dreamy nature, neither concerned anymore about the current power outage. All that seemed to matter was the way their lips moved together in sync. As Cindy wobbled slightly from the sudden weakness in her knees a thought that she kept trying to push to the back of her brain kept poking at her.

_Here I go again..._

"A little sincerity is a dangerous thing, and a great deal of it is absolutely fatal."

~Oscar Wilde

* * *

Author's Note: I try to make things as realistic as possible. They're teenagers and teenagers tend to do stuff such as smoke,play drinking games, and battle with their feelings, so if it seems that things like that would never happen, I write based on what that I've done and seen myself. Hope that chapter makes up for my leave of absence, let me know what you think.

~Dreaming of dance


	6. Picture Perfect Suspicions

This is probably the quickest I've ever updated this story =). The rating changed to M, so that should give a bit of a hint.

To the people who actually do own Jimmy Neutron: No fair. ( I don't own anything but this story line *sigh*)

* * *

" I need your help."

"Come again? I'm not sure I heard you" He sighed.

"I need your help..."

"Now just one more time for the record."

"CINDY!" She laughed on the other side of the phone.

"What is it exactly that you need my help for?"

"I have to do a photography assignment."

"Since when do you take photography?"

" I have to take an art elective to graduate, and since even _I _ know that I'm artistically inept I decided that if I took photography I wouldn't have to draw anything or learn how to play an instrument."

"Smart choice, if I remember correctly, your drawings look like you did them blind folded."

"Okay enough. Are you gonna help me or not."

"Well... maybe if you asked me really nicely."

"You're not making this easy."

"Well give me one reason why I should help you? You owe _me_ remember?"

"Cindy if I knew you were going to be so difficult-"

"I always am aren't I?"

"Definitely"

"I thought you liked playing hard to get?"

"Cindy."

"Okay okay. Of course I'll help you. Do you think I would ever pass up an opportunity to rub it in your face that you actually needed me for something?"

"Hey! I'll admit that I need you for some things."

"And by things you mean-"

"See you in five." He hung up. He didn't wanna think where she was going with that line. He was finding it harder and harder to control himself around her and she knew it. She would use it to her advantage too. He would get mad at her for it, but she would flash that radiant smile of hers which would make him forget why he was mad in the first place. Why did hormones have to take over his life suddenly?

"Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple."

~Dr. Seuss

"Jimmy honey where are you going?" She stopped him before he headed out the door.

"Cindy's house."

"You've been going over there a lot lately." She gave him that mom look. The look mothers give you when they know something.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Oh nothing."

"Mom, it's always something."

"I just thought you were dating Betty."

"I am."

"Then why are you spending so much time at Cindy's house? Not that I don't like her, she's grown into a very lovely young woman." It was weird to hear his mom talk about Cindy.

"We're friends."

"Do you like her?"

"Yea I like her, I wouldn't be friends with her if I didn't."

"You know that's not what I mean't Jimmy." He always felt awkward talking to his mom about girls, but she always seemed to get the truth out of him.

"Yea...I like her."

"Hmmm..."

"What Mom?"

"I just hope you know what you're doing."

"Mom, everything will be fine."

"Things may appear like that at first, but you tend to get yourself into messes Jimmy."

"Since when?" She gave him an incredulous look.

"I grew out of that! Jeeze, put the whole town in danger a _few_ times and no one lets you forget it.

"Jimmy I just don't want anyone getting hurt."

"I can handle it, promise."

"All right, don't be home too late please."

"Bye Mom."

"I can resist everything except temptation." ~Oscar Wilde

He popped the film into the camera, getting ready to try to get this assignment with done as soon as possible.

"Why are you treating this like it's a big deal, all you have to do is take pictures right?"

"It's a large percentage of my grade. I'm not just taking pictures, I'm supposed to be capturing human emotion using black and white film." He said using air quotes.

"So why did you want to use me again?"

"I'm starting to wonder that too."

"Hey!" She punched him playfully in the arm.

"I'm kidding," He leaned in and kissed her on the mouth. "maybe it's because I get to have a reason to be alone with you."

"You don't need a reason to be alone with me."

"Trust me, yea I do" It was always hard for him to get a moment alone with her, especially when he didn't want to give away what was going on between them. He was starting to wonder if people were getting suspicious. Then again they hadn't given anyone any reason to think anything was out of the ordinary. They acted the way they always did in school and around Betty, but he feared their friends might be catching on.

"So what do you want me to do." She said standing in the middle of her room. He scratched the back of his head, camera around his neck. She noticed that he did that when he was nervous or unsure of something.

"You're so cute when you're confused." He rolled his eyes. Although he loved it when she would flirt with him it was getting him more off topic.

"I see why you needed my help now...so you said the assignment was to capture emotions right?"

"Yea."

"So think of a few and I'll see if I can act them out."

"Umm. If you say so. Uh... happy."

"Thats easy." She smiled really big, the kind that he liked so much. He snapped a picture.

"Sad." She pouted, jutting out her lower lip.

"Cindy that's a bit too literal."

"Well it's hard to act sad when you're not."

"Fine. This is one I know you can do. Angry." She narrowed her eyes, not meaning to give him the exact expression he was expecting. The click of the camera went off.

"Perfect."

"Screw you."

"Sorry I couldn't help myself, it was too easy. How about...mischievous?"

"I don't think that's an emotion."

"What, you're not up for a challenge?" He said smugly.

She thought for a moment how she was supposed to do that one. How could she act mischievous? One thing came to mind; if he wanted mischievous he was going to get it. That wicked smile she got when she was about to tease him appeared on her face as he anticipated what she was about to do.

Ever so slowly she began to lift up her shirt and pull it over her head, carelessly tossing it on the ground. He swallowed a big lump that seemed to form in his throat.

"Wh- What are you doing?"

"What you told me to do." She took her long hair and pulled it in front of her chest, blocking his view of her top half. That momentarily took him out of the hormone induced stupor he had been stuck in as he stared at her. He tried to snap pictures to put his attention else where. She didn't take her eyes off him as she reached up behind her back and he heard a small click. She slid off her lacy bra, seeing his eyes drop to where it fell on the wooden floor.

"That isn't mischievous, that's just plain evil."

"Aren't you gonna take a picture?" She smiled and struck various poses, seeming to have a lot more fun with it now that she could see how anxious he was getting. Jimmy was having enough problems trying to take pictures without looking at her, it was impossible though as she stood in poses that purposely exposed just enough skin to make him start to sweat. Through her hair he could see bits of her naked breast and he resisted the urge to literally attack her. He could feel his pants start to tighten.

She walked up to him and touched the collar of his long sleeved, button up, plaid shirt. She undid a button and was working on the next.

"Cindy..."

"Calm down Hun I'm just borrowing it. You have a t-shirt underneath." She undid the rest of the buttons and took it off, turning her back to him and slipping it on. He absently took pictures, not looking exactly where he was pointing anymore. She was so care free, and didn't seem to be the least bit self conscious. He hoped she hadn't done something like this before.

"Cindy, you're torturing me." He didn't know how much more of this he was going to be able to take.

"Oh, I hadn't notice." Her hand grazed her skin in the opening of his shirt going down to her jeans. She undid the top button and zipped down the zipper. She pulled her pants down just enough to show the straps of her thong, before pulling them down all the way. He swore she was going to be the death of him, he had never seen her this naked before. His shirt just covered her bottom, but showed off her long toned legs. She moved around her room giving him coy smiles, while he took pictures of her. She would play with her hair and blow kisses at him, the camera clicking away. He couldn't believe how she was wearing practically just his shirt, he never knew that could be so hot. Wasn't she aware of what she did to him? At one point she moved just a little too quickly, and his shirt opened wider, giving him an ample view. That's when he cracked.

"Okay thats it." He took off the camera and set it on her desk and started toward her.

"Wha-?" He picked her up and threw her over his shoulder.

"Jimmy what are you doing!" She said, not being able to free herself. He threw her on her bed, setting himself on top of her. He captured her lips with his own and pinned her arms above her head. She didn't object as she kissed him back, and bit on his lower lip. He grunted and let go of her arms choosing to put his hands on her hips. She took hold of his t-shirt and pulled it upward. He then grabbed the back of it and took it the rest of the way off. He attached his lips just below her collar bone, kissing and sucking on her skin. She worked on taking off his pants, unbuckling his belt and throwing it wherever she could. When she undid them, he kicked them off, leaving him only in his boxers. She moved her legs apart so that he could lay between them.

She fisted her hands into his hair, forcing him to kiss her on the lips again. His tongue slipped effortlessly into her mouth. One of his hands started snaking up her torso. He had never done anything this sexual before and couldn't help but want all of her at once. His hand met the curve of her breast, and he hesitated unsure what he was about to do. He shook off the feeling and touched her. He continued to do so, and ran his thumb over her nipple. He felt her hips buck against him, causing him to repeat the action. He adjusted his body and the tip of his erection unintentionally rubbed against her, filling with her lust. His other hand dropped down to her underwear, his fingers on the rim. Cindy felt the anticipation building, not being able to wait much longer. A knocking sound started to filter in the background.

"Cindy? Are in you in there? It's Libby, did you forget you gave me a key? We were supposed to meet Carl, Sheen and Jimmy at the Candy Bar remember?"

"Just a minute!" She yelled to the door after she swore her heart had stopped for a second.

"You've got to be kidding me." Jimmy groaned, wanting to tell her to go away. Cindy looked at him sympathetically but felt the same. He got off of her and they scrambled around, hastily putting their clothes back on. Right now Cindy wished her clothes weren't scattered all over her room. She threw her hair into a pony tail hoping it would help to hide how messy it had gotten.

"Are you good to go?"

"Yea." He said still pissed as he was buttoning his shirt.

"Cindy?" Came Libby's voice again.

"I'm coming!" She opened the door and tried to block the entrance.

"Hey, sorry I kinda forgot."

"Are you hiding something?"

"What? Why would you think that?"

"Well, usually you tell me to come right in, and you're standing in the door way." Cindy backed away, there was no point in trying to hide anything now. Libby entered the room.

"Hey Libby." Jimmy greeted her trying not to make the situation worse. Libby looked back and forth from him to Cindy, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips.

"What's going on here?"

"Cindy was helping me with a project." He pointed to the camera on her desk.

"Uh huh." Obviously she didn't believe him, although he was telling the truth...for the most part.

"Really I was." Cindy had spoken, trying to reassure her.

"Do you guys think I'm stupid?"

"Uh...No?"

"Cindy you have a hickey and Jimmy your hair is completely out of place. Just admit it already."

"Well something _would _have been going on if you didn't show up." Cindy elbowed him in the side.

"Oww!"

"You can spare her the details."

"Whoa you mean-"

"Yes, now didn't you say we're supposed to be somewhere?" She went over to her closet and grabbed a scarf, hoping it would hide the mark.

"I'll go get my car." Jimmy said, grabbing the camera and exiting the room.

"Cindy now really, what's going on?"

"I forgot about our plans?"

"With you and Jimmy."

"We're just...having fun. No strings attached."

"So you're together, but not?"

"No, we aren't together. I can do whatever I want, and he can still do whatever he wants with Betty."

"Are you sure that's gonna work? What are you gonna do when you start falling for him again?"

"It's gonna work out fine, and I'm not."

"And what about Betty?"

"She doesn't have to know. They aren't technically together either."

"Cindy be careful, you're playing with fire."

"Betty doesn't scare me Libby, and she's not gonna find out."

"So I have to keep this a secret? Do you know how long I've been waiting for you guys to get together...or kinda be together...whatever."

"It makes it easier if no one knows." Libby sighed, knowing she was right.

"Oh and sorry for...you know..interrupting..."

"Don't worry about it, he'll get over it... or he'll be pissed at you for the rest of the day."

"Well if you had told me, that wouldn't have happened!" She couldn't help but laugh at her flustered friend.

"C'mon lets go, we can talk about this later."

Curiosity is lying in wait for every secret. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Betty wanted to know what was so damn funny. Why were they laughing so much and why was he laughing with _her. _She was walking in the hall at school, going to meet him like she usually did at this time, only to see him laughing, with her. That blonde bimbo was seriously starting to get on her nerves. Of course she had no proof to accuse her of doing anything, but that still didn't stop her from wanting to tell her to back off. Jimmy said they were just friends, but she wasn't sure if she believed him. When she saw Cindy laugh again from something Jimmy said, she decided it was time to cut in. She cleared her throat once she approached them, causing them to look at her.

"Oh hey Betty, what's up?" Jimmy asked her oblivious to her annoyed disposition. Betty kept her attention on Jimmy as they conversed ignoring the fact that Cindy was standing right there. Cindy just raised an eyebrow, she didn't have the energy to deal with Betty today.

"I'll see you around Jimmy." Cindy said before turning to leave, Betty felt a small sense of victory.

"So anyway, do you want to hang out today?"

"Yea, sure."

"Good, I'll see you after school." Betty said before kissing him on the cheek and leaving to go to her next class.

Betty had come over after school. He received a look from his mom when they came into the house but he brushed it off. They had started to watch a movie in his room but kept stopping to make out. He heard his mom call him downstairs for something, and got up to leave.

"I'll be right back." He exited, closing the door behind him. Betty scanned his room, looking for anything that might spark her interest instead of continuing to watch the movie. She walked around, picking up random items on his dresser. She came across some invention, unsure exactly what it did. She put it back down, just in case. She had witnessed before what could happen if an invention went awry. Betty never really talked to Jimmy too much about his inventions. The one time she did ask him about it, she got confused when he was explaining how it worked. All she knew was that he had a lab and spent a lot of time in there doing God knows what.

She saw some blueprints on his desk along with some homework assignments. The light from the window shined on something reflective, blinding her. It was the silver knob of a film camera. She picked it up, turning it around in her hands. She didn't know Jimmy owned a camera. She opened the compartment that held the film only to see that it wasn't there. She set the camera down, considering it wasn't a digital camera and she wouldn't be able to see the pictures.

The brunette opened the first drawer on his desk, realizing how nosy she was being. There would be no explanation if he were to walk back in, only to see her going through his stuff. She was starting to think she was prying too much. Betty ran her fingers over a manilla envelope, and gazed at the door before picking it up. She opened the metal clasp and pulled a stack of what she thought was meaningless paper out of the envelope. Except she was met with the glossy finish of freshly developed photographs. She put the envelope down and began to look through the pictures, not really interested in what so far were pictures of Carl and Sheen looking really goofy. They probably took the camera when he wasn't looking.

She continued to scan the pictures, going through them rather quickly now, until one made her stop dead in her tracks. What the heck was he doing with a picture of her? The huge smile on Cindy's face just reminded her of what she had seen earlier in school, brining back that feeling of annoyance. She flipped to the next picture, another one of Cindy. And then the next...

"What the hell." She went through the pictures even faster, her eyes widening at how as the pictures went on, Cindy was wearing less and less clothing. It had reached the point where she was almost naked, and was that his shirt?

"That little slut." Suddenly there were footsteps getting closer. She shoved the pictures into the envelope as quickly as she could, and closed the drawer. Betty stuffed the envelope into her bag, and zipped it shut. She sat back down on his bed just as he opened the door.

"Sorry I kept you waiting." She flashed a forced smile.

"No problem." Inside she was fuming. She knew something was up, now she needed to figure out how she was going to deal with it. Well you know what they say: don't get mad, get even.

"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned." ~William Congreve

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Authors Note: So I have to say that writing that scene with Cindy and Jimmy was sooooo difficult. I kept feeling like "omg did i just write that?". That's the first time I've ever written anything like that, so go easy on me please.

~Dreaming of dance


	7. Exposed

Happy New Year! Hope everyones enjoying 2011, feels the same as 2010 to me. Here's chapter 7 :)

I dont own JN

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"She looks like an angel, walks like an angel, talks like an angel, but I got wise. You're the devil in disguise." ~ Elvis Presley

"I just got the weirdest text." Cindy said while looking through a rack of dresses at the mall.

"What does it say?" Libby replied. She was holding up a two different gowns that she had picked up, trying to decide which one she wanted to try on. Libby had wanted to go dress shopping for the winter formal in January. Cindy didn't understand why she wanted to start looking so soon, considering it was only nearing thanksgiving. Libby took her attention away from her selections to listen to what Cindy was talking about.

"It says, 'You should pose for playboy, I would love to see you as a centerfold.' What the fuck?"

"Who's it from?" Libby displayed a look of confusion.

"I don't know, It's not a number I have in my address book. I've been getting texts like this all day, now its really starting to piss me off."

"Did you ask the person what their problem is?"

"No, I figured I should ignore it."

"Maybe it's some guys playing a prank." The buzz of the vibrate on Cindy's phone went off again. Her emerald eyes scanned the screen of the mobile device.

"I've just about had enough."

"What does it say now?"

"Hey there blondie, what do I have to do to see you topless in person?"

"Ew, what a creep. What is he talking about?"

"I have no clue! Thats the last straw." She dialed the number of the recent offender, hearing it ring a few times before the other line picked up.

"One, who the fuck are you? Two, how did you get my number? And three, what are you talking about?"

Libby watched as the expression on Cindy's face turn from angry, to puzzled, to flat out furious.

"What's he saying?" Libby couldn't hear the guy on the other side of the phone and was desperately wondering what was going on.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN ON THE INTERNET!" She shouted causing the other shoppers in the store to stare at her. Libby felt slightly embarrassed because of her friend's outburst. Her mocha colored eyes viewed as Cindy hung up her phone and threw it into her purse before she started to storm her way out of the store.

"Cindy whats going on? Where are you going?" She followed after Cindy barely being able to keep up with her fast pace.

"I need to find Neutron. Now."

Cindy had Libby find out where Jimmy was for her, she thought she might lose her temper if she had to ask him herself. Cindy knocked on the door of Carl's house, impatiently awaiting for someone to open the door.

"Cindy will you please tell me now what is going on?" Libby didn't think she was listening to her anymore. The red headed boy opened the door, Cindy moving swiftly past him.

"Where is he?"

"Who? Jimmy and Sheen are upstairs in my room." She was a flash of blonde hair bolting up the stairs with Libby and Carl in pursuit. Carl didn't have time to ask her what was wrong as she bursted into his room. She was an inch away from Jimmy's face barely before he could realize she was there.

"We need to talk."

"Okay... would you mind telling me why you're so up close?

"What did you do with those pictures?" She said it so softly as to not be heard by the rest of teens in the room. At first he seemed as if he didn't know what she was talking about until recollection hit him and he smiled at the thought of it.

"They're in my room why?"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm positive."

"Has anyone been in your room lately?"

"Hmm, Sheen, Carl, You...Betty..What does this matter?"

"I keep getting offensive text messages today."

"Saying what?"

"Sexual things, I got fed up and called one of the guys...and he said something about seeing naked pictures of me on the internet...and last time I checked the only naked pictures I remember taking..."

"So you think I put them on the internet? Cindy, why would I do that?"

"I don't know! I'm just trying to figure out if it's true or not."

"I'm confused, did I miss something?" Sheen interjected, as him, Carl, and Libby eyed Cindy and Jimmy's side conversation.

"Cindy got some rude text messages while we were at the mall and somehow Jimmy has something to do with it? I'm a bit confused myself."

"Thats funny, I got an a interesting text today too."

"What do you mean?"

"I thought it was chain mail, so I didn't pay too much attention to it. It was the name of a website or something."

"Let me see?" Sheen dug into his pocked to retrieve his phone and handed it to Libby. She scrolled through his messages, most of them from her, to find the one he was talking about.

"Carl can I use your computer please?" She asked.

"Yea sure." Libby took his laptop and sat down on his bed. She typed the link from Sheen's phone into the address bar on the internet.

"Oh my god..."

"What is it? Let me see." Libby turned away from him. There was no way she was going to allow him to see this.

"Cindy I think you need to take a look at this..." She pulled away from the conversation she was having with Jimmy to view what Libby was pointing out. She was speechless, she couldn't find the words to express what was going through her head right at this moment.

"Cindy, what is this?"

"I..um..." Jimmy peeked over Cindy's shoulder at the computer on Libby's lap. For a genius who had an infinite vocabulary, Jimmy was at a loss for words as well.

It was worse than she imagined. There on the internet for everyone to see, were all the photos that Jimmy had taken of her. Even worse, viewers were allowed to leave comments on the photos. She then discovered why people had been contacting her all day, her phone number was displayed under each photo with "call me for a good time" written above it. She was mortified, not because everyone could see her half naked, but because she was sick of people being able to judge her by something they shouldn't even know about. That was a personal moment between her and Jimmy and that's the way it should have stayed.

"Is there some way you can hack into this...and shut it down."

"I can try..." He suggested.

"What are you guys talking about?" Sheen and Carl were finally able to maneuver around Cindy and Jimmy.

"Uhhhhhhh, thats definitely more of Cindy than I ever thought I'd see."

"Sheen! Look away! You too Carl!" Libby scolded.

"Ugh whats the point I'm sure half of Retroville has seen this by now." Cindy collapsed on Carl's bed next to Libby.

"Who did this though?"

"Well what _I_ wanna know is who took these." Cindy wished Sheen would just shut up already, why couldn't he be like Carl who could tell from the present situation that now was not the time. Libby didn't say anything, choosing to give Cindy an apologetic smile, she had put the pieces together by now to know who took the pictures.

"I am going to kill her."

"Kill who?" Libby continued to scroll through the pictures, cringing every now and then at the remarks of some crude people.

"Betty."

"You don't know for sure that she did this."

"Really Neutron. Who else would have the motive to do this? Who else would want to humiliate me? If you really think that she didn't have anything to do with this than you're not as smart as you say." Libby thought that Cindy's comment was about to start a verbal war, but Jimmy responded differently than she thought.

"You're right...she's the only one who would use it against you if she found them... I just didn't think she would go so far." Libby kept her thoughts to herself, but she was beginning to think that Cindy was turning Jimmy into a softie. He would never cave so easily in the past.

"Can we just try to do some damage control or something. The last thing I need is for the wrong person to see this."

"I think my computer in the lab could find the source of the site and delete it."

"The sooner the better."

Later that day

"It took some time and was difficult, but I was able to disable the site. For some reason it was harder to hack into than I thought."

"I'm sure she had someone help her, probably a computer geek who's an expert at this stuff." She finally stopped pacing in his lab now that he had finally gotten the job done.

"School tomorrow is going to be..." Frustration began to etch itself into her features.

"Maybe it won't be as bad as you think." She sat down on a nearby couch, brining her knees up and resting her chin on them. She didn't respond to him, but she breathed out a long sigh instead.

"Not all the comments were completely vulgar if it makes you feel any better." She side glanced at his face, as he came to sit next to her.

"How would you know?"

"Well since I spent so much time trying to exterminate the site, I may have read a few."

"And?"

"Yea, some were bad...really bad. But some were really nice. This one guy said you were beautiful and had the face of an angel. Another said whoever took the pictures is one lucky guy to have someone like you."

"He better be for what it's costing me." He was trying to lighten the mood, but it wasn't working as he could tell from her tone of voice.

"Come here." He requested and gestured toward himself, she was reluctant to comply, but moved over to him and crawled into his lap.

"Cin...I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been so stupid as to leave them somewhere they could be easily found.

"It's not all your fault, It's mine as well."

"I could have put them in a safer place though."

"There's no point in thinking what could have been done, it happened, and I'm sure Betty is proud of herself."

"Guess I'm going to have to talk to her about it now that she knows."

"Considering how she handled finding out about it, I don't think she was too happy to hear. I won't be surprised if she thinks that I seduced you, like I'm some kind of harlot."

"But you are pretty seductive." He said suggestively.

"And you my dear are a horny teenaged boy." His face was in shock at her bluntness.

"I can't believe you just said that."

"Well its true, I mean you must have put those pictures in your room so you could look at them whenever you want. Then again I think I'd prefer that to you looking up porn on the internet."

"You're ridiculous, you know that?"

"Yes, but you enjoy every minute of it."

"Do I?" He wrapped his arms around her back, wanting he closer than she already was. She just nodded, one hundred percent sure of herself. She neared toward his face, and met her destination. She stopped the kiss before she was in too deep, and began to get up from his lap. He immediately began to frown.

"Where are you going?"

"Home, we have school tomorrow remember." Her voice grumbled that last part, for a little while she forgot about today's events. He got up to follow her over to where she was grabbing her bag.

"Do you really have to leave so soon."

"Yes, now I'm going to walk away before those big blue eyes of yours make me stay." She continued to make her way to the exit of the lab, pausing before she left.

"Maybe tomorrow we can pick up where we left off?" He just smiled as an answer and watched her retreat. Then that feeling he noticed he would get every now and then when she left surfaced. That feeling where even though she left not longer than a minute ago, he kinda missed her already.

"I don't care what you think, as long as it's about me. The best of us can find happiness in misery." ~Fall Out Boy

Cindy stood outside the brick building on the top step, pausing for a minute to imagine what might be waiting on the other side of the door.

"Better get this shit over with." She threw her used cigarette on the floor, it was moments like these where she needed something to relieve her stress. She wasn't going to let Betty get the satisfaction she wanted in seeing her hurt, so her plan was to act like it didn't bother her what so ever. As much as walking in alone was a bit challenging, she knew it was the best way to prove a point, anyway, she had been in worse situations right? Hopefully she wouldn't get in trouble for this one like in New York. She pushed away any doubt in her mind and stepped into the building.

As she walked through the hallway she could feel people staring at her, and turning to each other to whisper. She walked by and didn't even spare them a glance. She started to hear whistles and cat calls, no doubt all were guys who had seen the site. In the distance she saw Betty at her locker with an amused face, she took it as a challenge. She turned to the group of guys that had been whistling at her and winked at them. One of them called her over, and she walked up to them to see what they wanted. The guy opened his locker further to show that he had printed out one of her pictures and taped it into his locker. Well she wasn't expecting that.

"Aww how flattering." She said with mock enthusiasm. He pulled a sharpie from his pocket and held it out to her.

"I was hoping you would autograph it." Was this guy for real? She took the sharpie from the guy, and uncapped it.

"Now what's your name cutie pie?" He actually was pretty good looking. His stature was tall and built. He had dark brown hair, nearing black. His eyes were an interesting color; not quite blue but not green either, somewhere in between.

"Scott." Now that he said his name it rang a bell, he was Scott McPherson the starting running back of the football team and a senior. She leaned over to his locker and signed the picture quickly, she didn't want people to start lining up or something like she was really going to do this for everyone.

"Here ya go." She handed the marker back to him. He looked to the photo and read the message out loud.

"Dear Scott, fuck off. Love, Cindy." His fellow jock friends began laughing at her jab at his confidence.

"What, were you expecting something more endearing? Give me a break." She turned on her heal leaving the group of guys that continued to talk about their little encounter with the "feisty blonde" as they called her.

Cindy continued her way down the hall, she was going to walk by Betty, but a remark she made stopped her yet again on her way to class.

"Enjoying your publicity?

"Yea, thanks to you I have all these adoring fans."

"Wow you really are a whore."

"Betty it's quite sad you know."

"What is?"

"That you stoop so low. It would be so easy to backfire your little stunt right into your face." Cindy got closer so she could stare her down.

"Unless you forgot _where _exactly you found those pictures to begin with. Maybe I should remind you, or maybe tell the whole school. I wonder how they would react to hear that the guy who took them is the same guy Betty Quinlan is interested in. But I wouldn't."

"You don't have the nerve."

"I do, but unlike you I'm not a conniving bitch." The bell rang ending their feuding discussion.

"You're not worth my time." Cindy spat, then she blended in with the rest of the students who were rushing to get to their class on time.

A lie may take care of the present, but it has no future. ~Author Unknown

He wasn't necessarily trying to avoid her, he just preferred if he didn't run into her. She had been sending him messages on his phone about how she needed to talk to him, he wasn't sure if he was ready to talk to her yet. Was she gonna yell at him, call him names, or even worse, cry? He also didn't want to face her because he knew he should feel guilty, but he didn't. He didn't feel guilty for anything that had happened between him and Cindy, and he didn't feel guilty that it was, for a couple of weeks, a well kept secret. He was sure Betty would want an apology as well, but what was he supposed to be saying sorry for? The only thing that he was sorry for, was that she found out...

He was on his way to his car now that the school day was over, thinking that he had made it through the day without confrontation. But to no avail, he was wrong. The brunette leaned against his car, with her arms crossed over her chest. Her face didn't look angry though, more like a mix of emotions.

"You're avoiding me." Was the first thing she said when he approached.

"I'm sorry." It was supposed to be for avoiding her, but she took it as a different meaning.

"Why her? It could have been any other girl, and I wouldn't have been so mad, but her?"

"It just sort of happened..."

"And you didn't tell me?"

"I didn't think it really mattered since we aren't an official couple."

"Did you have sex with her?"

"No..." He felt it would be better to leave out the part that they had gotten close to it though.

"Oh...from the pictures, I had assumed..."

"How could you do that to someone? And those pictures weren't lying around in plain sight."

"It was wrong I know. I shouldn't have gone through your private things, and maybe I went overboard..."

"You did."

"I just..didn't know it was going to bother me so much. I'm sorry...really."

"I'm not the one you should be saying sorry to."

"I'm not apologizing to her, besides, she didn't even look upset about it. Nothing phases her."

"Still..." They stood there in quiet for a while. Jimmy wasn't sure what they were supposed to do now, did they go back to the way things were?

"That was the only time...right?"

"...Right." So that was a lie, but if she wanted to believe that it had only happened once...then he was going to let her. She had hurt behind her eyes when she asked, and he just couldn't bring himself to tell her she was wrong.

"Good...I don't want you hooking up with her anymore. It's not like I expect you to not be friends with her or ignore her, I just don't want you being with her. I'm not your girlfriend, I know that, but can you do this...for me?" He thought it was possible that she would request something like that...but he really didn't think she actually would. This was getting more complicated than he had planned.

"Uh..Sure.." She embraced him in a hug, as if his answer had made her day.

"Thanks babe."

"Your welcome?"

"I'll see you tomorrow." Then she had gone to her car and pulled out of the school parking lot.

"I see you and the queen bee are all good again." Cindy seemed to appear out of thin air.

"Where did you come from?"

"Where else?"

"I mean why are you still here?"

"Trust me, you don't want to know." All day random guys kept asking her to go on a date with them. One kid had been especially persistent and had proceeded to not take no for an answer, which kept her at school as he chose to follow her to her locker and continue to ask.

"So how did your talk with Betty go?"

"Well I had to lie and say that we are going to stop what we're doing." Her slim hand began to rummage through her bag.

"Oh?"

"Yea, she doesn't want me hooking up with anyone else I guess."

"So, now what?" She was still going through her purse, he wondered what she could be looking for.

"I said I lied didn't I?"

"Hmm I think I might like this rebellious side of you. I didn't think you were capable of lying to anyone." Her voice dripped of sarcasm. He knew she was teasing him, she always did for him being such a clean cut innocent do gooder.

"Must you always make fun of me, Ms. I think I'm such a badass."

"I don't think honey, I know." It was funny how she always made him feel better by the things she said. She finally retrieved that she was looking for as she pulled a pack of cigarettes out of her bag.

"Cindy."

"Yes?"

"Are you going to keep pretending that you are aloof to the effects of smoking."

"I'm stressed out leave me alone." Jimmy snatched the pack out her hand and held it way above her head."

"Hey give that back!" She said trying to jump for it.

"If you can reach it, you can have it back."

"That's no fair! I miss when you were a shrimpy little dork."

"You only preferred that because it was easier for you to push me around; and frankly I don't like to feel like I'm kissing an ash tray."

"Solution. Don't kiss me then."

"Easier said than done." She gave up trying to get her cigarettes back. She huffed in defeat.

"Well if you traded places with me today then you would want to smoke too."

"How was it? According to Betty, you weren't bothered too much." She shrugged and ran her fingers through her golden hair.

"It could've been worse. I could have lived without the people talking behind my back, guys whistling at me, and the stares. I did sign an autograph though."

"What?" His brown eyebrows rose with apprehension.

"That's most likely what Betty saw that made her think I wasn't upset about what she did. I really need to get away from this school for a little while."

"Well thanksgiving break is next week, that's four days off."

"Yea, but I want to go somewhere."

"Like where?"

"I don't know, somewhere that isn't here so I can get away from the drama."

"Unless you know a place, then you're out of luck."

"Guess I'll be spending those days cooped up in the house, in New York I had to because it usually started snowing around this time."

"You won't see too much of that here."

"Too bad, its always so much fun to go..."

"To go what?" She put her hand up to her forehead as if she just remembered something.

"Oh my god I can't believe I forgot."

"Forgot what?"

"How do you feel about the mountains?"

"They're nice?"

"Hypothetically thinking, if I were to, say, have a house near a ski lodge, would you want to go. Not just you, Libby, Carl, and Sheen too of course. No parents or rules for three whole days."

"Are you speaking hypothetically or are you serious."

"I'm serious, there's more than enough room for all of us, and my parents wouldn't really care." The next thing she said with a lower voice, and a knowing smile.

"Plus, I was thinking we could get some time alone." That was enough to put him on board.

"I'm in."

"Good, then it's settled. We're going on a trip."

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Authors Note: So Betty got her "revenge". I figured she could have scanned the pictures onto the computer or something like that. Her talk with Jimmy at the end is to show that she's not as heartless as I've kind of made her out to be, although she does want him to herself. Seems like Jimmy is going to be doing quite the balancing act. Thanks to everyone who has been reviewing after each chapter! I love reading them. Hope you liked the chapter!

~Dreaming of dance


	8. Hot And Cold

Hola, here's my second update in 1 week! I'm trying to get them out quickly, but I go back to school in a week and will return to my busy schedule. I'm hoping that won't slow me down too much.

8 chapters later and I still don't own JN

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"I have a mouth and I'm not afraid to use it" ~Megan Fox

Everything had been packed into the hover car the morning after Thanksgiving. They decided to take the hover car because it would be faster. Thankfully, Jimmy had expanded it's capacity from when they were in Elementary school.

"Okay thats the last of it." Cindy said after jamming Libby's bag into the car.

"Libby you are aware that we are going for three days not three weeks?"

"Well I wanted to be prepared. Plus I had to pack all the new clothes I bought for this trip."

"Libby it's not a fashion show."

"There is nothing wrong with wanting to be stylish."

"Whatever you say. Where are the guys? We were supposed to be leaving by now."

"Carl is saying bye to his parents, I'm surprised that they allowed him to go."

"Yea I know, the amount of medication they made him bring is ridiculous."

"And Sheen went with Jimmy."

"Where is Jimmy? He's the one that insisted we leave on time." Libby started to fiddle with the zipper on her coat. She was nervous, Libby was never good at hiding her emotions.

"Libby, is there something you're not telling me?"

"No..."

"Libby you can't lie for your life. What is it that you don't want to tell me."

"Haha...nothing."

"Then why do you have nervous laughter?"

"Um..."

"Just tell me."

"I'd prefer that you freak out on him rather than me."

"And I would be freaking out because?" At that moment Jimmy drove his regular car into the driveway. He got out of the car, and then Sheen.

"Where were you guys, we were supposed to-" Cindy cut herself off as she saw a third person leave the car.

"What the _hell_ is she doing here?" Betty came out of the car following Jimmy and Sheen. Cindy snapped her head toward Libby.

"You knew about this?"

"Uh...I didn't know till earlier this morning, I didn't want to make you mad."

"Yea, because this definitely _wouldn't _ be something that you should have addressed me about." The three approached, Jimmy carrying Betty's bag in his hand. Cindy gave Jimmy a look of disbelief, she was really hoping this didn't mean what she thought it meant.

"Hey Cindy, I just wanted to say thanks, thats really nice of you to let me come despite what happened." Cindy's face contorted to a look of utter discomfort.

"Yea...Sure..Jimmy can I borrow you for a second." She said pulling his arm and not giving him a choice. She brought him over to the sidewalk and away from the group.

"Why is she here! And you told her I said she could come, what is wrong with you!"

"I'm sorry, she wasn't going to let me go if she wasn't allowed to come."

"And you need her permission? Does she have you on a leash or something!"

"Listen, I tried to tell her she had nothing to worry about, but she insisted."

"Well maybe you shouldn't have told her that you were going anywhere in the first place."

"And seem like I disappeared for a couple days without notice?

"Fine. But if I push her off the side of a mountain, don't say I didn't warn you."

"Cindy-"

"No, whatever it is, I don't care. I thought you actually _wanted _to spend time with me, guess I'm sadly mistaken.

"I do, I really do."

"Apparently not. Do me a favor and stay out of my face, your little girlfriend too." Ouch. Having Cindy verbally abuse him was so much worse than he remembered. It had been a while since she had yelled at him like that. He really screwed up this time. She stalked away clearly pissed off with him. The thought that she was going to spend the whole weekend mad at him, tore away at him but there was nothing he could do for now. He joined the rest of the group, and saw that Carl had appeared as well.

"All right, let's get going."

The ride up to Cindy's house had been strained. Cindy had chosen to stay quiet except the occasional direction that she would give. Betty was starting to get on Cindy's nerves as she awed over the snow and the evergreen trees. Every time that they would pass a cabin she would say how adorable it was. Cindy couldn't wait to get there so that she could retreat to her room, preferably with a bottle of wine and a pack of cigarettes.

"Take a left." Cindy announced.

"Are we almost there?" Sheen was getting antsy. He never was able to sit still for too long.

"Yea it's at the end of this road."

"Finally!"

"Sheen we haven't been in the car for that long."

"That's what you think." Cindy didn't have the will power to argue with Sheen now too.

"It's the last driveway on the right." Jimmy obeyed as he drove up the long driveway.

"We're here." Cindy said with no excitement contrary to every one else who had the exact opposite emotion.

"Cindy when you said it was a house I think that was an understatement." Libby said as she gazed ahead.

"This place is HUGE!" Sheen added. The house had a wooden exterior, and large pane windows that gave it a more modern look. It appeared to have about three floors and a wrap around porch. Overall, it was gorgeous.

"It always seemed bigger when I was little." Cindy left the hover car and began to walk in the direction of the house.

"Exactly how rich is Cindy?" Betty inquired to Jimmy.

"I don't know, she doesn't talk about it. I don't think she really cares." He never thought about the fact that Cindy's family must be well off to own three houses. She never showed off or ever hinted towards having a lot of money. She wasn't stuck up about it. That just made him like her more.

"Are you guys coming or not?" Cindy spoke out, already at the door. The guys unloaded the hover car and caught up to the rest of them. Cindy unlocked the door and flicked on a nearby light switch. The inside was just as impressive as the outside as they filed in.

"Okay so make yourself at home. The bedrooms are upstairs, you can have whichever one you want except the one that literally has my name on it. Theres a game room downstairs and a hot tub outside in the back." She picked up her bag that had been set on the floor and started up the stairs.

"Where are you going?"

"To my room, if you need me that's where I'll be." She was already half way up the stairs before Libby could protest.

"Maybe all men are a drug. Sometimes they bring you down and sometimes, like now, they get you so high." ~Sex and the City

"This place is awesome!" Sheen exclaimed. Him and Carl were playing a video game on the flatscreen TV. Libby sighed.

"Cindy is still in her room, I think I'm gonna go check on her."

"I'll go with you." Jimmy added. He hadn't seen Cindy in hours. She had stayed in her room opting out of joining them. Right now he just wanted some kind of excuse to see her.

"I think it would be better if I went alone." He stayed put as Libby left. He knew that she didn't want to see him but it felt weird trying to have fun in Cindy's house without her. He hoped Libby would be able to get her to leave her room.

Libby knocked lightly on Cindy's door, which indeed did have her name on it.

"Hey Cindy?"

"Yea." She heard her say from the other side of the door.

"Can I come in please?"

"Go ahead." Libby opened the door to see Cindy sitting on her bed reading a book. Libby sat at the end of her bed.

"Can you please come hang out with us, it's no fun without you."

"I don't feel like it."

" I know you can't stand Jimmy right now, and you can't stand Betty in general, but please? You're the one who suggested we come here and now your gonna let Betty ruin your weekend." Cindy didn't look up from the book she was reading when she answered.

"I'm not letting her ruin my weekend. I'm perfectly content with what I'm doing."

"Cindy stop being so stubborn. Plus, I can tell Jimmy feels like an ass about it. He even wanted to come with me to come check on you, the guy misses you."

"He has Betty to keep him company."

"Cindy you and I both know that you're going to get over it so you might as well do it now."

"I was thinking of going with the 'ignore him to no end' route."

"C'mon, give him a break."

"We'll see."

"We were going to go in the hot tub, can you at least accompany us?"

"I'll think about it."

"I will take that as a yes." Cindy rolled her eyes, why did Libby have to always be so rational. Libby got up to leave feeling that she had swayed Cindy's opinion at least a little bit.

She came outside to the hot tub, shivering slightly at the cold night air. She was only in a hot pink bikini and a towel. Everyone else was already submerged in the warm bubbling water. She walked over to the edge of the tub, and clenched her jaw when she noticed that the only available spot was on Jimmy's right side.

"I'm happy to see that you decided to join us." Libby said to her with a joyful smile. She half smile back at her before unwrapping her towel, and placing it on a near by chair on the patio. She made sure her hair was secured in its messy bun before she stepped into the hot water. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Jimmy staring at her as she sat down next to him but didn't pay him any mind.

Jimmy knew that she was still ignoring him. As their friends conversed she wouldn't even spare him a glance in his direction. He felt bad, and his actions were coming back to bite him because the reason he came on the trip was to be with Cindy, and now she wouldn't talk to him. He had wanted to spend the next two days locked in a room with her, but that appeared to be a distant fantasy now that Betty was here, and that Cindy didn't want him near her. He thought she looked so cute in her pink bathing suit. She rarely wore pink anymore, and it reminded him of how she used to wear those pink sneakers all the time when they were younger.

Under the water he put his hand on her leg, seeing if she would show any reaction. The water pressure coming from the jets caused the water to move so much, that the white foam that formed on top of the water made it so that no one could see below the surface. Cindy didn't acknowledge the contact on her leg, causing Jimmy to want to try further to get her attention. He began to rub her skin, but she still looked straight ahead. His hand drifted further up her leg, and his fingers started to brush against the inside of her thigh. Besides a comment to something Carl had said, she was still composed. His hand kept moving upwards until he was right next to her bikini bottoms. When she still remained stoic, he decided to be daring and dipped his hand in between her legs. His fingers rubbed against her through the fabric, which finally got a a response out of her as she jumped slightly. He did it again, this time not being so timid about it, causing her to take a sharp intake of breath. Her head turned toward him, her eyebrows crinkling.

"What are you doing." She whispered to him. He had a smirk on his face as he kept repeating the motion. He could see her biting the inside of her cheek trying not to have a reaction.

"I'm not doing anything at all."

"Someone could see." She turned back, hoping that would have stopped him. Instead it urged him on as he slipped his hand inside her bottoms. Her eyes slightly widened and she leaned back against the wall of the hot tub. He felt her soft skin before his fingers traveled downward, teasing her with gentle strokes. She let out the tiniest moan, not loud enough to be heard by anyone but him. He found her opening and moved a finger inside of her. He felt her squeeze his leg with her hand as her eyes closed shut for a moment. He knew he had her attention now for sure. As he moved in and out of her, he could see it was getting harder and harder for her to play it off. Her breathing had become shallow and she was biting her lip hard enough that she was sure she would draw blood soon. If he kept doing this she was going to burst.

"Jimmy...mmm...please." She silently choked out, there was no way she was going to be able to keep holding back. He had a smug grin on his face as he pretended to not hear her quiet request. For a brief moment he pulled away and lifted her leg and placed it over his so he could have better access. Then he was back where he had been. She hated that she couldn't say anything without giving away what was happening. She kept getting odd looks from Libby who seemed to take notice in her sudden withdrawal from their conversation. Cindy unintentionally gasped out loud as she felt him insert another finger.

"Cindy are you okay?" Libby asked her from across the hot tub. She couldn't even think to make a coherent sentence.

"Uh-huh." Her voice came out in a much higher pitch than her normal tone.

"Are you sure you seem a little flushed." Jimmy taunted her in his knowing voice; his fingers moved even deeper and his pace quickened. The witty comeback that would have followed, if he wasn't about to put her over the edge, didn't come.

"I'm f- fine." She put hand over her face and laid her head back on the head rest.

"I just need to relax for a minute." She prayed that no one would take notice that her voice cracked at the end of her statement.

"All right then." Libby dismissed the subject. Betty seemed either to not recognize or not care that Cindy was acting strange. Cindy felt as if she was about to lose her mind as she knew she was getting closer and closer to climaxing. How was she supposed to contain herself? When his thumb began to rub against her clit she completely lost it as her walls contracted. She dug her nails into his leg and stifled the moan that she desperately wanted to release. By now she was gently panting as she came back to reality. To her relief everyone was talking and laughing about some joke that Sheen told. She pulled her leg off of Jimmy's and distanced herself from him. She went to whisper in his ear.

"I hate you. I really really _really_ hate you."

"Doesn't seem like it to me after that." She scoffed and forcefully sat up and climbed out of the hot tub. She grabbed her towel and marched back into the house not even bothering to wrap it around herself.

"What's _her_ problem?" Betty asked to occupants of the hot tub.

Once Cindy was in the house she leaned against the kitchen counter. What the fuck had just happened? Her face felt hot and she wasn't sure if it was from the hot tub or what Jimmy had done.

"You keep running off today." She whipped around, already knowing whose voice it was. Of course he still had that smirk on his face.

"I can't believe you! You insist that this needs to stay a secret then you go and pull a stunt like that! And stop smiling like that!"

"Why should I?" Acting as if he didn't have a clue.

"Because I'm trying to be mad at you, idiot!"

"You seemed pretty happy back there."

"Have you not been listening to a word I said?"

"I'd rather shut you up." He took steps until he was right up against her and his face was only a few mere inches away.

"Oh no, that is not going to work this time so you might as well turn back around." He put his hands on the counter on both sides of her, not allowing her to go anywhere.

"It's not?" He kissed her on the tip of her nose and smiled at her. Why did he have to go and do something so adorable like that? She stared back at him really wanting to stay angry.

"I hate you." Then she closed the distance between them. He lifted her up onto the counter, not breaking their contact. She wrapped her legs around him and pulled him impossibly closer.

"I want you." He said against her lips. She knew she wanted him just as badly, especially at this moment. She pulled away, frowning at what she was going to say.

"We can't, not right now."

"Why not?"

"You know why. Betty is going to walk in here any minute, there's no way we would be able to be alone for more than five minutes without her getting concerned." He put his forehead against hers, knowing that she was right, and that it was his fault. True to what she had just said the sliding door began to open. They moved from their compromising position, and Cindy grabbed her towel and wrapped it around herself.

"I'm having a problem." His eyes pointed down so she would see what he meant.

"Think of something disgusting."

"Like what, I don't really have the time here."

"Um..I don't know, think of Ms. Fowl naked."

"Ew..."

"Did it work?"

"Yea...I feel mentally disturbed though..."

"Did you guys resolve whatever issue you were having?" Libby came over to stand between them. They looked at each other for a second thinking that now they had a new and different issue to deal with.

"Yea, it's all good." Jimmy responded.

Betty took Jimmy's hand after she came up by his side. To Cindy it almost looked like she was marking her territory or something. For now she thought that was fine, better to let her think she won then give her a reason to think otherwise. As she watched the way Betty held onto Jimmy, she wondered if it was weird to be a girl who didn't care if she didn't have a guy that was just hers. Or maybe, she didn't care because in a way she knew he was.

"So now that peace has been restored, what are we all going to do now?"

"Well I don't know about you all, but I'm going to go to bed. We can go to the ski lodge tomorrow though if you guys want." Cindy offered. They all agreed, Sheen especially was excited, which made Libby worried that he was going to break his neck. It didn't matter to Cindy what they did tomorrow, she was more concerned with figuring out ways to get Jimmy away from Betty without her noticing.

"The score never interested me, only the game." ~Mae West

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Author's note: Hope you liked the chapter, it's getting naughtier I promise. Sorry if Betty showing up made anyone mad, I can't make things that simple. Plus, if you think about it what girl would let their guy go on a trip with the girl he "used" to hook up with. Review please!

~Dreaming of Dance


	9. Under The Stars

Hiiiiii. So I know it's been literally months since I updated this and I do apologize for leaving you all on that note. I do not plan on abandoning this story. This semester of school was just ridiculously busy, but tomorrow I am done so I will have more time to write :) I hope the chapter makes up for the long wait! Also, thank you again to MysticLady3 for doing all the beta work you have been doing for me.

Warning: Sexual content.

Disclaimer: Still don't own JN/characters etc.

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"Enemies are so stimulating." ~Katharine Hepburn

So maybe she wouldn't have to push Betty off a mountain; she was doing a pretty good job of getting bruises herself, coupled with that she definitely wasn't properly dressed for the weather. Cindy, along with Carl and Libby, were watching the constant drama of Betty attempting to ski and falling on her ass each time. She must have thought it was cute though because each time she would fall, she would giggle stupidly and Jimmy would help her up. Sheen had taken a liking to snowboarding and hadn't killed himself yet, although Libby kept getting worried he was going to lose a limb. Libby, Carl and Cindy had called it quits for the most part, choosing to be bystanders.

"Girls like her make me sick."

"Cindy, that's not very nice." Carl commented placing a hand on her shoulder.

"It's true though. That girl has the damsel in distress act down perfectly." Libby budded in.

"Thank you, at least someone agrees with me."

"She's not that bad Cin."

"Carl, must you always see the good in everyone?"

"I see the good in you and you're not exactly innocent." He had a point, although Cindy wondered if he would still see the good in her if he knew all of her dirty little secrets, not just the obvious ones such as her smoking or drinking habits.

"That's beside the point. I'm aware of my imperfections, she thinks she's flawless." They couldn't argued with that.

"I swear it's getting colder, can we leave soon?" Libby asked, already removing the skis from her feet.

"Carl would you mind rounding up the children?" She was trying to keep her distance with Betty, you know what they say, if you have nothing nice to say then don't say anything at all, and she was biting her tongue.

Cindy had always found the little cafe in the ski lodge cozy and relaxing. It was dimly lit and the fire places enhanced the atmosphere. The gang was sitting at a table drinking hot chocolate before they were going to head back to her house. She especially loved the mountain of whipped cream on top of hers, taking no shame in eating it with her fingers.

"You know there's this invention called a spoon." Jimmy mocked her as she sucked whip cream off her index finger. If it wasn't for the fact that Betty was next to him she would have said "Would you prefer that I use yours?"

"Why use a spoon when some of us are enjoying the view." Said a low voice that didn't come from her table. She was already quirking an eye brow before she swiveled around in her chair. She didn't catch the way Jimmy's face contorted at the comment. He was expecting her to scowl and say something rude, but she had a polar opposite reaction as a smile bigger than he had ever seen broke out on her face. In two seconds flat she had already bolted out of her chair and was throwing her arms around some guy.

"Who's that?" Betty asked as she watched the display of Cindy and the stranger embracing each other.

"Whoever he is, he's gorgeous." Libby answered. Sheen narrowed his eyes at his

girlfriend.

"Don't worry babe, you're cute too." Sheen's expression showed that Libby's cover-up didn't buffer her previous comment.

The guy that Cindy was currently talking to was, indeed, gorgeous. He was tall and athletic looking, with black hair and ice blue eyes. He could have passed for a Ralph Lauren model. Though he appeared to be close to their age he seemed older than Cindy. Jimmy stared daggers at him although he couldn't understand why he had the sudden urge to rip Cindy away from him. Who was this guy anyway? He watched as her and the mystery guy sat down at a table by themselves, his respective friends also looking on with a questioning gaze.

He was certainly the last person she thought she would run into, and this was the last question she expected him to be asking her.

"You have something going on with that guy don't you?"

"Which guy?" She played it off as if she didn't know what he was talking about.

"The one you were sitting next to."

"The red head? Carl is just one of my best friends."

"No not him, the other one. You know, the one that's been sending me death glares ever since you came over here." Sometimes she wished he wasn't so observant.

"Oh, you mean Jimmy? Of course not."

"Okay, that was a nice try, now the truth." Damn him for always being able to tell she was lying.

"He's with the brunette sitting on the other side of him, so how are you so sure that I'm involved with him in some way."

"Well before I said anything, I was watching to make sure it was you."

"Okay, and?"

"I guess to make it simple, I can just tell by the way he looks at you. Like you're the most beautiful girl in the room. Not that other girl." She characteristically rolled her eyes.

"How do you know that's how he looks at me?"

"Because, that's the way I used to look at you, and still look at you." She half smiled, and her eyes softened. She had also forgotten about his charming ways.

"It's nothing serious." She said finally giving in to his suspicions.

"Is it?"

"No." He could hear the frustration edged in her words.

"Who am I going to tell?" She didn't respond.

"Have you had sex yet?"

"No. Why the hell would you ask me that?"

"You really must like him then." If there was an expression that conveyed 'what the fuck?' then Cindy had found it.

"Judging that this started about the time you started 'boarding school' and you've waited this long, must mean that it's not only about being physical, but I'm pretty sure you won't be waiting much longer."

"I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to discuss with your ex-girlfriend if she is going to have sex with someone or not."

"The fact that you're talking around my questions only proves my point."

"Okay! Goodness! What do you want from me?"

"How about you admit that you have feelings for him, I bet you haven't admitted that to yourself yet." Feelings...she hated feelings. She enjoyed just being with Jimmy and not thinking about what she felt for him.

"I do have feelings for him. I've had feelings for him since I was ten years old, but that isn't really important Derek. Whatever relationship that I have with Jimmy is mostly based off of being attracted to each other, not having actual emotions for each other."

"I think you're wrong and don't want to pay attention enough to see that attraction can only take you so far."

"You don't know him, he's not exactly in tune with his emotions."

"He's a guy. He might not say it, but he'll probably show it." She huffed and blew a bang out of her face.

"This is turning into an interrogation rather than a reunion. I still missed you though."

"I missed you too buttercup." He'd always called her that. "I hope that you have been staying out of trouble."

"I'm trying, yet trouble always seems to find me."

"I see nothing's changed."

From a couple tables away Jimmy watched Cindy talk to whoever the fuck he was. He didn't want to be obvious but he couldn't help himself.

"Jimmy I don't think it's healthy to go so long without blinking." Libby teased him from across the table. He merely scowled, too distracted to see the look on Betty's face. She nudged him with her elbow getting his attention.

"Maybe you should let them have their privacy." The tone of her voice didn't match the look of hidden anger in her brown eyes. He honestly didn't have a response for her, he knew he was blatantly doing everything that would scream "It bothers me that Cindy is with another guy" but he didn't have the heart to sift through his genius brain as to why he would feel that way. He and Cindy were...confusing to say the least. He saw a blur of blond hair that indicated she was approaching them.

"So are you finally going to introduce us to your friend Cin?

"I was just about to if you would just give me a minute Lib. Anyway, this is Libby, Sheen, Carl, Betty and Jimmy." She said pointing to each person to their corresponding name.

"And this is Derek, my.."

"Ex-boyfriend." He finished the sentence for her.

"Yeah, that thing." Cindy wasn't one to get nervous easily, but she had a feeling introducing him wasn't the best idea. She could already see the gears turning in Libby's head.

"Oh really?" Libby seemed to drag out, giving Cindy a look. Obviously Libby was about to make her sorry that she didn't seem to mention anything about an ex-boyfriend to her.

"Well, why don't you take a seat, you wouldn't mind me asking you a few questions would you?" Cindy prayed he would just say no and go back to his friends.

"Yeah, sure." Cindy watched with dismay as he pulled up a chair and she reluctantly sat down. Well, this is just wonderful.

"So tell me, how did you two meet?"

"Through a friend."

"And when was that?"

"Libby, is this really necessary?" Cindy would prefer if she stopped this before something was said she didn't want to share.

"Calm down Cindy, your friend can ask me questions." He winked at her, making her realize he was going to have way too much fun with this.

"We met about three years ago."

"So freshman year?"

"For her, yes."

"What about you?"

"Senior year."

"Wait so that would make you..."

"Three years older, yeah."

"Why Cindy, I had no idea you were into older guys." Libby said, pestering her. Cindy wasn't bothered by Libby's taunting, she just wasn't sure how Jimmy was taking this, considering he refused to look in her direction now. She started to tune out Libby as her onslaught of questions continued. Trying not to be completely obvious about it she was watching Jimmy. She really didn't want to him to be upset over this. Usually he always had something to say, but for once he sat there in silence. He couldn't be jealous, could he?

"Cindy...Cindy?" She snapped out her thoughts at her named being called.

"I have to get going." Derek stood up.

"Oh, okay." As much as she had missed having him around, she was kind of happy to

see him go.

"I'll see you around buttercup." He caught her off guard when he kissed her on the cheek, especially it being near to the side of her mouth. She waved passively as he walked back to his friends. For her it wasn't abnormal for him to do something like that, but she didn't think her friends would take it the same way.

"Buttercup huh?" Libby said, still poking fun at her.

"Shut up."

"Turn off the lights and turn off the shyness, cause all of our moves make up for the silence." ~Fall Out Boy

As quietly as he could, he turned the knob and gently pushed the door open. He wasn't sure if she was asleep yet. From the outside he couldn't tell if the lights were on or not. He peeked through the crack between the door and the frame to the dimly lit room with just the bed side lamp turned on. She was reading a book, from what he could see. She looked really peaceful, something he rarely had seen. He almost didn't want to disturb her, but didn't want to miss an opportunity to talk to her alone. So, he crept into the room and shut the door quietly. She seemed not to notice or hear him enter. She sat with her back resting against the headboard of the bed, with her legs bent and the book resting on top of her knees.

Jimmy walked slowly, taking the lightest steps he could. He paused for a second when she turned a page, thinking she might notice him there, but she continued reading. He kept approaching and then sat down gently near her feet. Her emerald eyes gazed over her book to look at him. The pleasant smile on her face let him know she didn't mind the disturbance. He returned the smile.

"Hey." It was such a simple greeting she said, as she put her book down next to her, but the tone in her voice made him feel warm inside. She extended her legs and patted the space next to her. He laid down and rested his head on her lap. For a while they just sat in silence with her absently running her fingers through his hair.

"So, how are you here right now without Betty noticing?"

"She's asleep, wasn't feeling well. I think she's getting a cold or something." It was quiet again and Cindy could feel something was up.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"Nothing."

"Don't lie to me Jimmy, there's something bothering you. Just say it."

"You and... him." She sighed before cutting him off.

"We're done."

"You didn't seem it earlier."

"It's not easy to explain."

"Well try."

"He was my first real boyfriend Jimmy. No, I don't still have feelings for him like that, but we still care about each other. He was my first everything, and that's something that will always keep us connected. You have to understand we were together for more than a year, and our relationship didn't end because we stopped caring, we just decided that we were in two totally different places in our lives."

"Hmmm."

"Why does this bother you?"

"I don't know."

"Are you...jealous or something?"

"No...maybe..." Why did this bother him so much? He shouldn't care if she ran into her ex-boyfriend who she seemed to be all buddy-buddy with. The last thing he should be is jealous considering they weren't together, and the whole Betty situation. How was it that she wasn't jealous of Betty, yet he was of her ex-boyfriend?

"I guess I just forget sometimes that you have this whole other life that I don't know about. It's weird that you have all this history with a guy and I had no idea."

"You never really asked, and in case you forgot I happen to have a lot of history with you too. Most of it involving being put in danger, but hey, I have no complaints. I can't say that I had a boring childhood." He rolled his eyes and sat up so that he was eye level with her.

"Maybe you're right."

"When are you going to admit that I always am."

"Never."

"Anyways, I can't afford having you be upset for no reason. I just might like you. Just a little bit." She said teasing him.

"Only a little?"

"Yup, don't get your hopes up kid."

"Kid? Last time I checked I'm older than you."

"By what? A month?"

"Three to be exact." By now his forehead was leaning against hers. She moved forward to close the space between them but he moved away at the last second. A puzzled expression marred her features.

"Can I show you something?"

"Now? Can't it wait?"

"Well we're leaving tomorrow, so, no it can't wait." She huffed but nodded her head then followed him as he got up. She turned off the light before they left her room and closed the door behind her. It wasn't until they were downstairs and he was putting on his shoes that she questioned him.

"Where are we going?"

"Just put on your shoes." She didn't retort, although she couldn't tell if she found him bossing her around funny or hot. Cindy slipped on her shoes and when she turned around he was handing her jacket. She felt the chilly air from outside blow against her as he opened the back door to the deck. He let her go ahead of him before heading out into the chilly night himself. When he didn't continue to go anywhere she just felt more confusion.

"Jimmy, what-"

"Look up." She averted her eyes to the sky, and was immediately in awe. There were millions of them. Beautiful, bright stars that seemed to go on forever. She couldn't remember ever seeing so many stars in the sky before. It was like diamonds against black velvet.

"Wow..."

"I figured you hadn't seen them like this before. The woods are the best place because there are no street lights around to hide them, unlike in the city." All she could do was continue to take in the sight. A strange feeling began to settle inside of her, she couldn't even find the words to describe it to herself. Why would he do something like this? Why did he want to share something so simple yet stunning with her alone? Was this the showing her thing that Derek was talking about? They watched the stars in a comfortable silence, although Cindy was mentally debating still how she was supposed to feel. The whole thing was just...romantic. Her thoughts were interrupted as she felt his hand slip into hers, their fingers interlocking. Her gaze switched down their hands, then up to his face. A shy smile graced his lips when his eyes met hers. Even after a month of her being back, he was still shocked at her beauty. The moonlight against her face only proved to him to think she was just as, if not more, radiant than the stars.

Despite the winter setting Cindy felt warm; she wanted to thank him, but didn't know how to say so. She returned his smile with a small one of her own. She untangled her hand from his, much to his dismay, but then wrapped her arms around his torso, burying her face into his neck. Almost immediately his arms came around her tiny frame, and he dropped his head against hers. It was a comforting feeling, yet completely new. They had kissed more times than either could count, but she couldn't recall once when they just held each other. They had always stayed away from displays of affection such as hugging or holding hands, and as much as their current position was so welcoming it didn't feel close enough. She needed to be closer, and she only knew one way.

She placed a firm kiss on his neck before detaching herself, and pulling him back through the sliding door. Wordlessly, she unzipped his jacket, and pushed it off of him with his help. She took off her own and tossed it on a nearby couch. Her hands came to his neck and she caressed it with her fingers. His hands were at the small of her back where her shirt had ridden up. The cold touch gave her shivers, but she didn't care. He couldn't hold back anymore as he finally kissed her softly, sensually, which soon turned passionate and heated.

They almost tripped up the stairs multiple times caused by their reluctance to tear away from each other. When she felt her back hit her door, he was already beginning to lift her shirt over her head. Cindy reached her hand behind her to turn the knob, his weight on top of hers almost knocking them over as the door opened. Jimmy kicked the door shut before landing them both on her bed. Her discarded shirt lay on the floor along with their shoes.

He felt like they couldn't get out of their clothes fast enough, though they were both now only in their underwear and rolling around under the sheets. With his mouth attached to her collar bone, he slid down a strap of her bra. He began to kiss right along the edge of where her bra met her cleavage. She felt the heat spread through her body, aching and needing him. She reached behind her and unclipped the garment. He helped take the bra off as he peppered kisses on her upper chest. When he stopped, he lifted his head and gazed at the girl under him. He didn't feel hesitant anymore with what he wanted to do with her, he knew that she was what he wanted. Her breath caught in her throat as his mouth closed over her nipple while his hand teased the other. If at all possible, he pushed his body even closer to hers. The skin on skin contact heightened her currently aroused state even more.

Jimmy made his way back up her neck to plant a searing kiss on her lips. Her hands slipped between them, letting her nails rake gently down his abdomen before boldly moving inside of his boxers. He couldn't help but grunt when her hand came around his length and slowly began moving forward and back.

"Cin..." He pulled his mouth away from hers and their eyes locked. This was the moment of truth; if they kept going there was no turning back from here. It would be hard enough to stop right now, but Jimmy didn't think he would be able to bring himself to be able to if this went any further. Cindy kissed him before nodding her head. They divested each other of their underwear, then something became alarming aware to Jimmy.

"With Betty around I didn't think...I didn't really come prepared-" She immediately knew what he was talking about and silenced him.

"I'm on birth control." He felt relieved but still apprehensive. He wasn't an idiot, he knew unprotected sex was risky, but he wanted her so badly.

"If it makes you feel any better, I've never let a guy do this before." That didn't change the situation, but somehow it made him feel like she trusted him. It also made him feel special in a way that she hadn't allowed anyone, not even her ex-boyfriend, to not wear a condom. Before he realized it, he had made up his mind. His hand ran up her thigh and she parted her legs, and as they continued to kiss he positioned himself. He thought he would be more nervous, but being here with her, just felt right. He was still cautious as the tip of his member nudged against her. She was patient, knowing that this was something that they shouldn't rush. When he finally slid inside of her, she softly moaned at how good it felt. He enjoyed the erotic but blissful feeling as well as he set a slow but steady pace. They moved in sync, lost in their own little world. For once they felt uninhibited by any barriers; whether it be people getting in the way, or literally that there was nothing separating him from her.

They picked up the pace as that growing need started to become stronger. Ripples of pleasure ran through them as they got closer and closer to that feeling of ecstasy. Cindy wrapped her legs around him, and gasped as he plunged deeper inside of her. Everything seemed to becoming more rapid: their breaths, his thrusts, the sounds of satisfaction that they elicited. Cindy clutched at him as she climaxed and he felt her slick walls clench against him.

"Jimmy..." Hearing her say his name like that caused him to not be able hold back any longer as he let go, releasing himself and shuddering at the intensity of the euphoria.

They laid there for sometime after as time fell back into place. She lazily caressed her fingers up and down his back as he nuzzled his face into her neck. Unwillingly, he pulled out of her, and laid back down beside her. He wrapped his arms around her so that her back was against his chest. He was surprised at how perfectly she fit against his body. She sighed contently when he kissed her temple. As she began to drift off, she swore she heard him whispering.

"No one makes me feel the way you do."

"And oh, the way your makeup stains my pillowcase, like I'll never be the same."

~Fall Out Boy

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Hope you enjoyed it =) The last two quotes are both from the same chorus of the Fall Out Boy song "Of All the Gin Joints in All the World". I listened to it when writing the chapter and it seemed to fit so well, plus I love the song. I promise not to take so long for the next chapter to come out! Review please =)

~Dreaming of Dance


	10. Hidden

Hi! Once again I'm kind of a slow poke when it comes to updating *sigh* but anyway, here's chapter 10!

I'll never ever own JN

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The sound of an alarm beeping repeatedly woke him from his sleep. Groggily he blindly reached around for his phone to silence the noise. To his annoyance his search caused his hand to accidentally push it even further away from him. He groaned quietly finally opening his blue eyes, spotting his phone that was a foot away from where he was laying on the floor. He sat up a bit, slowly as to not wake the girl that was still sleeping on top of him. He was surprised that she hadn't woken up but had stirred slightly before drifting back to sleep. He found it endearing the way she had subconsciously grabbed at him with her hands. It was as if she making sure he was still there. He silenced the alarm and laid back down, pushing her mess of blonde hair off of her back so that he could wrap his arms around her. He thought about how exactly they had wound up on the floor of the lab.

It had been weeks since their trip, Christmas just being right around the corner. The first week back, he and Cindy could see each other whenever they had wanted due to the fact that Betty's cold had lasted about a week, having her be out of school and succumbed to staying in her bed. After that though it was hard to get time alone. They were being as discrete as they could, meeting up when they were sure Betty wouldn't be able to catch wind of it. Those times though were becoming harder and harder to come by. It was important that Betty not suspect anything, but it was also becoming difficult for Jimmy and Cindy to keep putting on an act. After Betty had made him promise to stop seeing Cindy, they didn't want her to find out again.

This past week they had barely gotten any time to be together, Betty always seemed to have plans for her and Jimmy to do something and he felt turning her down would be suspicious. Which led them to last night. It had been late and a school night but he really needed to see her. She barely had gotten through the door before he had attacked her, them not even making it to the couch. He grinned just thinking about it.

The blaring alarm went off again, he forgot that he had hit snooze and hadn't turned it off. This time Cindy did wake up, making a noise of protest at the annoying alarm that was soon shut off.

"What time is it?" She mumbled into his chest.

"Approximately 6:05."

"Mmmm five more minutes." She grumbled already closing her eyes.

"We're going to be late for school." He chuckled as he stroked her back.

"But I want to go back to sleep. Plus, I'm not looking to forward to the possibility of running into your mother while doing the walk of shame. Wouldn't that be fun? Imagine me saying ' Oh no Judy I'm not walking home at this hour because I was screwing your son last night'". He laughed out loud shaking his head but understood how that could be a potentially extremely awkward situation. She lifted her head and smiled up at him, shifting forward to press her lips to his. He deepened the kiss, his hands roaming continuously lower down her body. That was when she realized that the hard thing pushing up against her was his morning wood. Without warning he flipped them over, pinning her under him.

"Whatever happened to being late for school?" She mocked him as he put one of her legs over his shoulder.

"We have time." He said, coaxing her into submission.

"Every once in a while, a person will do something obvious and direct that is no more than it appears to be." ~Steven Brust

"Jimmy, I'm not the smartest guy around, but you are being really obvious right now."

Sheen raised an eyebrow when he got no response from the seemingly brain dead genius.

"Hello! Earth to Jimmy…" Still nothing.

"Hey Jimmy!" Sheen yelled smacking him hard on the back of his head.

"Ow! What was that for?" Jimmy reeled, grabbing at his head now that he had been snapped out of his trance.

"You seriously need to stop staring at Cindy when you think no one is paying attention. Betty is somewhere in this room and if you and Cindy want to keep up this thing that you have, you're going to have to be more discrete. Either that or get caught."

"Wow Sheen, I didn't realize you could be so wise."

"Yeah I have my moments." He said with a wide grin. Jimmy sighed while rubbing the back of his neck.

"I know, I really should be more careful. I guess I just can't help it." Tonight was the school science fair and the judges were just finishing up looking at all of the projects. They had already came and assed his own, and for the first time he hoped that they were impressed. He really felt like he half assed his project this year, most likely because there had been some distractions from giving his invention his full attention. One of those distractions being the one he was staring at.

"You have it bad for her man." Sheen patted him on the shoulder, knowing all too well what it was like to caught up with a girl.

"I don't know what's wrong with me. I think about her all the time...even when I'm with Betty. Which makes me feel really guilty, but I can't make myself stop."

"Well, what makes them so different anyway? I mean, you wanted a chance with Betty ever since we were in elementary, and then Cindy comes along, and now you're with Cindy every chance you get."

"If it makes any sense at all, I feel like I have a completely different relationship with Betty than I have with Cindy. With Betty of course, it's more public, and I do have fun with her and enjoy her company. With Cindy, I don't know how to really explain it. Obviously its way more physical, but there's just something about her. She makes me so..."

"Happy?"

"Yeah. And I can-"

"Be yourself?"

"Exactly. At first I thought our relationship was only a strictly physical attraction to each other, but somewhere along the way things changed and now I find myself wanting to be with her all the time. "

"If you feel that way about Cindy, then why are you still hanging out with Betty?"

"I don't want to hurt her... and I do like her...but...never mind."

"You know, it's okay to admit that you're falling in love with Cindy." His blue eyes widened.

"What? I never said anything about love! Where did you get that from?"

"C'mon Jimmy, face it, you have serious feelings for her. There's a reason why you can't stop thinking about her. Stop trying to use your brain so much and focus on what you feel." Jimmy shook his head and rolled his eyes not wanting to think that Sheen knew more about a topic than he did.

"I take back what I said about you being wise."

"Believe what you want, but I'm gonna say I told you so." Suddenly a man with a microphone announced that the judges were going to deliberate and the awards ceremony would be starting shortly; ending the boy's conversation now that he had also asked for everyone to make their way to the auditorium.

"So how are you and Jimmy lately?" Brittany whispered to Betty while the judges started the ceremony.

"We're good, why do you ask?"

"Didn't you want to come to the science fair because you wanted to check up on him?"

"No, why would I need to check up on him?" She asked with a slight attitude.

"I don't know..." Brittany said carefully, not wanting to get Betty upset.

"Do you think there's a reason why I should worry?"

"No...I mean I don't know anything. I was just checking is all. I check up on Nick all the time, then again I always have a reason to." Annoyance and frustration were in her words.

"Brittany, you're making me nervous...the last thing I need is to think that Jimmy is hooking up with Cindy again." She muttered that last line before she realized it was coming out of her mouth.

"Jimmy hooked up with-" Betty quickly clamped her hand over Brittany's mouth.

"Shhh! I didn't mean for even you to know that let alone everyone in this auditorium! You have to swear not to say anything." Brittany nodded her head, silently agreeing to her secrecy. Betty took her hand away from Brittany's mouth and slumped in her chair a little.

"I think you just found your reason."

"I asked him to stop."

"And you think he did?"

"He said he would..."

"Well from my experience when a guy says he'll stop it doesn't mean he's going to."

"Yeah, but you and Nick aren't together."

"Neither are you and Jimmy, at least not officially." She had a point, how was she supposed to know that something wasn't going on behind her back?

"I haven't noticed anything."

"Are you sure? They could just be very sneaky at it. They acted like they hated each other for years when everyone knew that they liked each other. So maybe it's an act."

"Brittany please, I like him a lot okay? Incase you forgot, he also liked me for years too."

"Betty, aren't you the least a bit curious?"

"Only if you can give me a good reason to be right now." Betty thought that was going to be the end of the conversation until to her dismay Brittany continued.

"How about the fact that Cindy isn't in this room, and Jimmy just got up to leave even though I'm sure he knows they are going to be calling his name any minute now."

"You got my message." Cindy said, smiling not so innocently as she sat on a desk in an empty class room.

"Yes, and we are missing the ceremony." He said walking up to her and she stood up to meet him.

"So?" She kissed him softly on the lips and then on his neck. "You're positive that you're going to get first place so what's the point of being there."

"You're turning me into a rebel who skips out on science awards. I live for that kind of stuff."

"I know," She pressed her body up against his, wrapping her hands around his neck ", your intelligence turns me on." He felt a shiver go down his spine.

"You want to do this here?"

"Are you saying that you haven't had some fantasy of doing a girl in a classroom, I would think a big nerd like you would like that."

"How is it possible that you can make fun of me and talk about sex in the same sentence."

"Are you objecting?" He rolled his eyes at her. What guy would object to that?

"No."

"Then what are you waiting for?"

Brittany walked down the halls of their high school, Betty reluctantly behind her. It was so quiet at night opposed to how busy and loud it usually was during the day. She felt she could practically hear herself breathing and the beating of her heart. She didn't like that she let Brittany persuade her to go play detective. Doing that once had gotten her hurt and she would be damned if that happened again. If Brittany's intuition was correct, Cindy Vortex was going to regret the day she came back to Retroville.

"See Brittany, there's nothing to find."

"You are in so much denial."

"Why? Because I'm trying not to believe that Jimmy is somewhere with Cindy right now?"

"I just think that it would be better to be prepared, incase."

"Whatever." They went down another empty hallway, making Betty think that this was becoming pointless.

"Brittany this is stupid, he probably just went to the bathroom or some-"

"Shhh!" Brittany cut her off as she paused in the middle of the hallway.

"What?"

"Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Brittany turned around and started walking quickly down the hallway in the direction of the sound she heard.

"I don't know, it sounded like a bang." They stopped at a door where the source of the noise seem to be coming from. Brittany looked through the small window in the door and immediately gasped.

"That wasn't the kind of bang I was talking about." Betty pushed her aside so she could take a look herself. The minute she did she felt her mouth drop open and her heart stop. For a minute she was frozen, not able to completely comprehend until her brain started functioning again, and when it did she knew she was seeing exactly what it looked like. Apparently, the banging noise that Brittany had heard was caused by Cindy. She was using her hands to support her weight on a desk while she was standing and Jimmy was thrusting into her from behind. Every time he would thrust, the impact made the desk hit the one behind it. She was speechless, and even though Brittany was the only one there to witness it, she was humiliated. When the shock wore off, the rage started to settle in.

"I can't believe this. That fucking blonde slut." She knew Jimmy was to blame too but in her eyes it was all Cindy's fault. Betty moved away from the door, having seen enough. Brittany watched her slightly afraid of the rampage she was going on.

"If she hadn't shown up, none of this would have happened! Who the hell does she think she is?" The brunette began storming down the hall with disregard to Brittany who was now the one trying to keep up with her.

"She comes here and thinks she can take whatever she wants. What a spoiled brat. What's so great about her anyway? I'm sure it's because she puts out and in a school? How un-classy." She ignored the fact that a couple months ago she was thinking about having sex with him in a bathroom.

"Betty if you're so angry then why aren't you busting in on them right now? You can prove that you caught them in the act and they can't even deny it! How can you let them get away with it?" Betty stopped and turned around to face Brittany.

"Trust me, I'm not. But for now, I'm going to let them continue their fun, let Cindy keep thinking that I know nothing."

"Why are you going to do that?" Brittany said genuinely confused.

"The only way that Jimmy is going to stop fucking that bitch is if I show him just how disgusting she is."

"How? Do you have a plan?"

"No, but I know someone who can help me out. Everyone has a secret, I just have to find out her's. When I do, I'll expose her for what she really is. Then Jimmy will realize what an ass he was and come back to me." Betty leaned against a locker feeling the weight of what happened in her chest. Brittany put her hand on her friend's shoulder.

"I'm really sorry Betty." She knew what it was like to see the guy you like with someone else, it was one of the worst feelings. Betty blinked back some tears, hating that the rage was now being taken over by sadness. She had never in her life felt threatened by another girl, it had always been so easy for her to get the guy.

"Don't worry about it, soon she'll be the sorry one."

"After all, everybody has secrets and there are some things that nobody knows about you but only you, right?" ~Halle Berry

"Are you sure you can't find anything?" Betty said exasperatedly.

"Aside some pictures from social networking sites, there are none you can use to prove anything." She had paid off Henry again, the same guy that had made the revealing website of Cindy, to help her dig up some dirt. He wasn't a genius like Jimmy, but he was the definition of a computer geek and could hack into any website.

"Keep looking, there must be something."

"So she seduced the guy you like, and now you want revenge, again. I'll never understand girls."

"You don't have to understand me, you just have to help, and from the looks of it that's not going to happen." Henry tapped at his computer keys again turning up with the same photos and information.

"Maybe we need to try a different approach to this."

"What do you mean?"

"I think we aren't looking in the right places. If there's a secret to find out then we'll need to piece it together. Cindy moved from New York City right?"

"Yeah?" She was skeptical with how that was going to help.

"I'm going to check the news articles online from over three months ago and see if anything pops up." He scrolled through a list of headlines, with Betty looking over his shoulder. He clicked on a few that turned out to be dead end leads. Betty was starting to think that maybe there was nothing to find out after all. He continued to scroll down, the dates of the articles now being from late July. Henry had just clicked on an article about some rich girl who had fallen off a hotel balcony and was in a coma. He was about to x out of the page when something caught Betty's eye.

"Wait a second."

"What?"

"The picture of that girl in the article, she looks kind of familiar." The unfortunate girl's school portrait was printed next to the article that was written about her accident.

"She probably looks like someone from school."

"I don't think so. Go back to those pictures of Cindy."

"I told you, they are only some pictures of her partying with her friends."

"Just do it okay?" He did as she said and opened a new window to look at the pictures. He clicked through them and paused when Betty told him to stop.

"There! That's the same girl from the article!" In the picture was Cindy and that girl at a party. They were hugging with drinks in their hands and making funny faces at the camera. Henry realized what she was getting at and went through more pictures to see that there were a lot of pictures of Cindy with the same girl.

"They were friends. Friends who did everything together it looks like." Henry said, as if it wasn't obvious from the photos. Henry went back to the news article.

"Her name is Brianna Buchanan. Her family is well known among the Upper East Side."

"What else does the article say about her accident."

"Apparently the hotel where the accident occurred was one that she and her friends would hang out at often. She was in critical condition when the ambulance arrived. Hmm... that's interesting..."

"What? What does it say?"

"It says that when the doctors checked her vitals at the hospital, her blood contained large amounts of drugs." Betty smiled. Jackpot!

"If Cindy was one of her close friends, then I'm sure she was involved in this somehow. We have a lot more research to do."

"You're only as good as the company you keep." ~Unknown

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Let me know what you think, I'm finally getting to the part where the plot thickens, the drama has just begun :)

~Dreaming of dance


	11. Crumble

"I think I'm in love with him, and I'm terrified that he's gonna leave me because I'm not perfect." ~Sex and the City

"Joker. That will be, let me see, sixteen points. I'm definitely going to beat you."

"Keep thinking that Vortex, if you win it's only because I let you." The old fashion Scrabble board was laying on the floor of Cindy's bedroom while the two were sitting around it. The weather outside was proving to be gloomy. It was cloudy and windy, and although it was never cold enough in Retroville for it to snow, it was still pretty cold outside. The only good thing about the weather was that it was the perfect time to hang around the house in sweats and play board games. At least to Jimmy and Cindy, it seemed ideal.

Their game was nearing to an end with only a few empty spaces left on the board. At this point she didn't think there possibly was a word that Jimmy could put down that would beat her score. Jimmy picked up one of his wooden pieces, a "Q", and placed it in front of an "I" from a previous word. His usual clever smirk appeared on his face.

"And it's on a double word score; twenty two points, which means, I win."

"What the hell! I'm not playing games with you anymore. It's not fair." She knew "Qi" was a word as she was usually the one using it because most people didn't know it existed.

"Aww you're all mad. Don't be a sore loser Cindy."

"I am not." She said crossing her arms over her chest.

"I think it's cute."

"Cute?" Jimmy raised an eyebrow as she smacked the scrabble board forcefully to the side, wooden pieces went flying everywhere, some even hitting him. She didn't give him a second to respond until he found him self pinned to the ground on his stomach with an arm behind his back.

"Do you think it's cute now?" She said pulling his arm harder. The fact that he was practically eating her rug caused him to not be able to respond. He used his free arm and his advantage in weight to push off the ground flipping them over. Cindy felt her back land hard on the floor.

"Well, all right then. Bring it on Neutron." She provoked, and kneed him in the stomach. They continued to wrestle more aggressively rather than playfully. They fought for dominance as they kicked and elbowed each other, not taking it into account that they were fighting for no reason or if one was hurting the other. Cindy let out a yelp as Jimmy pulled on her hair rather hard and she retaliated by sinking her teeth into his arm.

"Ow! That hurt Cindy!"

"You pulled my hair!"

"So, you bit me!" He looked at his arm seeing her bite marks in his skin. Jimmy looked back at Cindy, and started chuckling.

"What's so funny?"

"We just had a full out brawl over nothing." She thought about it for a moment and began to laugh with him at how ridiculous they were.

"What is wrong with us?" Cindy said in between giggles.

"I think I have rug burn." Jimmy commented rubbing his elbow.

"I think you gave me bruises." She pulled on the collar of her shirt to see a red mark on her shoulder that would be a bruise by the next day.

"I thought we were passed that phase of trying to kill each other."

"Too many years of built up anger." Cindy brushed her hair out of her face and started fixing her clothes.

"Do you wanna kiss my boo boos?" Cindy snickered at his word choice, but crawled over to him anyway. She laid a soft kiss where her teeth marks were starting to fade, and sat in his lap.

"All better?" He nodded and kissed her on her shoulder.

"Did I hurt you?"

"I think I'll live. Did I hurt you?"

"Not badly. That was actually pretty fun."

"Good to know I'm not the only sadistic one in this relationship. Uh... you know what I mean." She hadn't meant to say it like that, but it's not like they had a name for what they were. Apparently he didn't care about her fumble with her words because he smiled and wrapped his arms around her. He was giving her the weirdest look which kind of resembled how Sheen often looked at Libby.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" He had a dopey grin on his face as he didn't break his gaze. His silence was making her nervous.

"Jimmy?" He leaned forward so that their noses were touching.

"It's just that I love...being with you." He kissed her on the lips ending the conversation. Cindy couldn't help but feel that he was attempting to tell her that he loved her, not only that he loved being around her. The idea of it melted her heart, but scared her at the same time. There were so many things he didn't know about her, but she didn't want to disappoint him. He made her want to be a better person, she had even stopped smoking because of how much he hated it. Aside from the Betty factor, they had such a good thing going. She wanted to tell him about her past and what she had done, but there would never be a proper time for it, and how would he respond? The last thing she wanted was for him to reject her. After all, the worst thing about falling for someone is if they don't catch you.

"You always have a choice. It's just that some people make the wrong one."

~Nicholas Sparks

It surely wasn't the same as seeing New York City around Christmas time, but it was still quite beautiful to look at. It was the day before Christmas Eve which also was the day before Cindy was flying to New York for the holidays. She wasn't looking forward to facing her parents, but her father insisted she come home.

There was a tree lighting in the park and white lights were draped all over the branches. Everyone from town was there, with many little kids excited at the twinkling lights. The gang was casually walking around the park in a quiet, secluded area where the excitement wasn't taking place. As they were exchanging light conversation, Cindy thought about how the relationship between her friends had turned out so well. After her moving away for three years she thought things would never be the same, but it was proving to be better than ever. After all that had happened in New York, for the first time she felt like she was happy again. Even with all of her recent happiness, she couldn't ignore the nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach. She was dreading that she hadn't had the nerve to tell Jimmy about her past. As she was drowning in her thoughts she felt someone's fingers lace with hers.

"What are you doing? Have you forgotten where we are?" He just shrugged as if it was nothing.

"I haven't seen Betty all night."

"Yeah Jimmy where is Betty?" Libby asked, giving him and Cindy a sly look at the small public display of affection.

"I don't know, she hasn't really been talking to me for the past week." Cindy raised an eyebrow at that.

"She hasn't?"

"No, she hasn't even asked me to hang out or anything."

"Maybe she's losing interest." Sheen added.

"I don't know Sheen that's not like her..." Carl warned.

"Carl, maybe he's right, what other reason would she be doing that for?" Jimmy countered.

"Maybe because you and Cindy were fucking at the science fair? I think that could be it." At that moment Jimmy felt a knot in his throat, while Cindy stood there not knowing what to say. Meanwhile, Carl, Sheen and Libby shared expressions of disbelief and shock. Slowly and slightly afraid, Jimmy turned around to see Betty standing only a few feet away from him. He was so caught off guard, he didn't feel when Cindy's hand pulled away from his.

"You really thought I wouldn't find out? Do you think I'm an idiot or something?"

"I..um.."

"Save it. Besides, I'm not here to yell at you."

"You're not...?" She didn't respond to him but turned her focus on Cindy.

"So Cindy, how's your friend Brianna doing?"

"Cin what is she talking about?" Libby asked aloud. Betty rolled her eyes.

"Didn't any of you ever wonder why Cindy decided to move back to Retroville? Ever think to ask?" All of them gave her a blank stare, except for Carl who was looking to the ground suddenly feeling uneasy about what was going on.

"No? I'm guessing not, because I don't see how any of you could even look at her the same way."

"What do you want Betty?" Cindy said cautiously, this was not how she wanted this to happen.

"What I want? Hah. Karma's a bitch Cindy, it's about time your past caught up with you."

"Betty, what's this all about?" Jimmy stepped in not liking the feeling of being confused. Betty simply shook her head.

"Cindy here has got a little secret, although, it's not so little, is it?"

"You wouldn't..." With every passing second her chest felt like it was getting tighter and tighter.

"Tell them? I think I would, and will. You see, I did a little research. It's crazy how much you can find out from the internet."

"What secret?" Libby turned toward her friend, Cindy looked back to her feeling so ashamed of what was going to come out of her mouth.

"What do you know..." She slowly inquired to Betty.

"Everything." Betty smirked, and it wasn't until then that Cindy noticed the folder she had in her hands. Betty opened her mouth to speak again.

"Why don't you tell them Cindy? Tell them what happened to Brianna." Betty's words were like venom and Cindy was speechless. She felt like she was choking as she was fighting off a wave of emotions and guilt. Betty reached into the folder and pulled out a news article and read it aloud.

" 'Teenage heiress falls off hotel balcony and in critical condition', " the headline read, "did she ever wake up from that coma Cindy?"

"Stop...please." At this point she was desperate.

"Oh, I'm just getting started."

"Betty, I don't know what you're talking about but leave her alone." Libby said in a menacing tone very unlike herself.

"Trust me, this is something that you're all going to want to hear."

"Who's Brianna?" Sheen asked completely lost as to what Betty was getting at. Betty looked at Cindy expectantly.

"She was my friend."

"Seems like she was your best friend from all the photos I have here." Betty said as she threw a stack of photos from the folder onto the grass in front of the gang. Jimmy picked up one of the photos and looked at it curiously.

"You didn't tell me anything about this, why wouldn't you mention something as horrible as your friend falling off of a balcony." Cindy couldn't look at Jimmy, he sounded so concerned, which made her nauseous at the truth of the situation.

"Because she had something to do with it." Betty answered for her.

"It was an accident!" Cindy cried out.

"Was it? I hear some people think you pushed her." All eyes were on Cindy.

"No I would never..." She was trying her best not to sound distressed, but it was no use.

"Then tell everyone what happened that night, or I will." Not that Betty knew the details, but it was all part of her plan for Cindy to cause her own demise. Cindy took a deep breath, looking around at all of her friends that were waiting for an explanation, but she knew they were waiting for an explanation of her innocence, one she could not give.

"About a month before I moved back here, my friends and I were in a hotel room...we were partying...drinking...things got out of hand. Then we all went out on the balcony, and we were joking around," Cindy held back a sob and wiped a tear that was in the corner of her eye. "we didn't think anything could happen...until we heard Brianna scream and by the time we went to see what was wrong she had already fallen." Her voice broke on the last sentence.

"Enough, you're making her upset, it was clearly an accident." Jimmy budded in as Libby put an empathetic hand on Cindy's shoulder.

"The story isn't over yet." Betty said.

"You don't have to do this Cindy." Jimmy said to her looking at her straight in her teary eyes. Cindy nodded her head, trying to keep the tears from falling.

"Yes I do. After that, everyone left in a hurry. They just left without even a second glance. I couldn't just leave her like that! So I called 911 and went down to where she had fallen to see if she was still alive. I panicked, I didn't know what to do, I just sat there kneeling in a puddle of her blood holding her hand and waiting for the ambulance to arrive. The rest is a blur of sirens and hospital lights."

"All right. As far as I'm concerned we're done here." Jimmy said.

"Not yet. She's leaving out the most important part. The part that explains why everyone left so fast, the part about what they found in Brianna's blood," Betty stared down Cindy ignoring her tears, "the part where you landed yourself in rehab. Did you know you can hack a rehabilitation center's database to see who their patients are?" Betty thanked Henry in her head for his computer skills.

"Rehab? You were drinking underage but usually as a first offense they let you off with a warning." Jimmy was trying to piece everything together but it wasn't making complete sense.

"C'mon Cindy we don't have all night, tell them why you were too messed up to even notice that Brianna was in danger." The tears were cascading freely one by one down Cindy's face now, she knew she was about to seal her own fate.

"We...I was...high...off coke..." The gasps of her peers were expected.

"Cindy... you didn't." Libby said softly.

"It's funny what rich kids do to have fun, don't you think. That's why everyone left. They knew as soon as the cops got there they would all be screwed. I thought you were smart Cindy; obviously not smart enough to realize that paramedics would take one look at you and know you were on something. No wonder you left New York, everyone wanted nothing to do with you." Betty sounded victorious now that her plan had unfolded and it was beginning to turn out better than she had planned, but her words were background noise. Jimmy stared at Cindy in what at first was shock, but quickly turned into anger.

"You're addicted to cocaine!" It wasn't a question but an accusation.

"No, no! It was only a couple times, I'm not I swear! "

"Oh yeah, that sounds nothing like what an addict would say." He said sarcastically.

"Jimmy please, I made a mistake I-"

"You lied to me."

"I didn't lie! I just never said anything because I knew this is what would happen!"

"What did you expect Vortex! How am I supposed to react, how can I not be disgusted with you. That's why your parents sent you here isn't it, to get rid of you. I don't blame them." His words hurt more than she ever thought they could, she glanced over at Carl and it didn't go unnoticed.

"You knew?" Jimmy assumed.

"I didn't know the whole story..." Carl answered sincerely.

"But you knew something! You're my best friend and you lied to me too!"

"Don't be mad at him!" Cindy cried, the last thing she wanted was for anyone else to take the blame. "All he knew was that, I came back to Retroville because if I didn't leave New York I was going to be expelled from school." In all her life she had never seen Jimmy so enraged before, she had never seen so much hate in his eyes.

"You make me sick." He turned on his heel and stormed away.

"I hope you're happy." Cindy said defeatedly to Betty, who looked quite content with herself.

"You had it coming. The truth would have come out eventually, I just sped things along." She shrugged and started walking away in the direction Jimmy had left. Cindy looked to the remaining three friends that were still standing in the secluded part of the park with her.

"Aren't you going to go too? I'd understand if you did...I know I'm a fuck up." Libby, Carl and Sheen exchanged glances and Libby gave an exasperated sigh. Cindy hung her head thinking she had lost what was left of her friends, until she felt Libby's arms embrace her.

"Yes you are, but you're our fuck up." Finally Cindy broke down and sobbed.

"A friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out." ~Walter Winchell

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As always I apologize for the slow updates, hope you enjoyed the chapter :)


	12. A New Year's Blunder

Happy new year everyone! This is long overdue, but I honestly do not have any time at school to write. So here's chapter 12, I hope its a good one :)

I don't on JN.

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She dropped her carry on suitcase of the hard wood floor, not paying attention to how the discordant noise clashed with the quiet house. With a tired arm she closed the door behind her. She was mentally and physically exhausted. She spent the night replaying the events of Betty's reveal in her head over and over. Cindy had tried to get in contact with Jimmy, but it was no use, he wouldn't answer her phone calls. She understood why he was angry, he had every right to be, but that didn't make her feel any better. What was worse than her spending the night moping around was that now that she was visiting in New York for a couple days and wouldn't be able to attempt to salvage what was left of their 'relationship' until she got back. That was if he even wanted to see her. Maybe if she gave him space he would calm down and let her explain.

The sullen blonde walked down the hallway of the house, reacquainting herself with the surroundings. She passed a grand staircase and then found herself in the living room. The large, immaculately decorated Christmas tree was the only thing illuminating the room. The lights that were placed beautifully among crystal ornaments reminded her of yesterday and she began to feel the emotions coming back at her again full force. Footsteps coming down the stairs broke her stupor and made her turn around.

For a few moments the same pair of green eyes stared back at her from the bottom of the steps. Neither said anything, for neither of them had spoken to one another since the accident. Cindy remembered how disappointed in her she looked, how appalled she had been at what she had done. Her mom had always pushed her to be the best, and she let her down. Her mom had never been one to be warm and fuzzy, but after that day she had never seen her be so cold. She would barely look at her or acknowledge her even up until the day she left for Retroville. What Jimmy had said about her parents wanting to get rid of her, wasn't too far off, because that's exactly how she felt every time she had to be in the same room as her mother. Her dad was upset too, but was much more forgiving than her mom had been. Now after more than four months of not speaking Cindy didn't even know how to begin, did she even want to see her?

"Mom..." She said cautiously, her voice wavering a little. Her mother didn't say anything in response but for the first time in a while she looked at her as if she wasn't the worst daughter in the whole word.

"I really messed up this time Mom." Her voice was cracking again and she felt tears coming to her eyes.

"I think...I think I just got my heart broken...and it's my own fault." For the second day in a row she was crying and feeling like a weakling. If anything, she thought her mom would think she was even more disgraceful than before. Her mother took a few steps toward her until there was only a small distance separating them. She sighed deeply before addressing her.

"Cynthia..." Cindy wouldn't let her finish.

"I'm sorry mom. I'm so, so sorry. I've let you down in so many ways. I wish I had never done any of it. Then I wouldn't have been sent to Retroville, and I would have never met Jimmy again and I would have never fallen in lo-" She cut herself off, realizing that she had said much more than she had planned. She decided to throw caution to the wind.

"He hates me..."

"Cynthia, look at me." Reluctantly she looked up; her mother's heels put her a couple inches taller than her, though normally they were the same height.

"You know I was never very fond of him, but if that boy has any sense at all, he will realize that you are the best that he will ever get." Cindy was taken aback by what had just been said.

"But Mom-"

"Cynthia I have taken this time while you were gone to think about your actions."

"I know what I did was unforgivable..."

"What you did, was very wrong.

"I know you don't have to remind me. I've paid for my stupid mistakes in more ways than one."

"Yes, and I have come to the decision, that although I have always been hard on you...I did not handle it the way a mother should. With everyone already against you, I should have been the one person who was on your side. You're still only sixteen years old, if you're going to make mistakes now is the time to do it. Don't get me wrong, you did disappoint me, but you're still my only daughter...and nothing could make me love you any less." Cindy knew it took a great deal to get her mother to ever admit to doing something wrong, or to open up at all. They were alike in that way. Not being able to contain herself any longer Cindy threw her arms around her mom, taking comfort in the embrace.

"I missed you Mom." Her mother hugged her back, allowing her daughter to be vulnerable for once.

"What if he never forgives me? He found out what I did and was completely livid."

"I would question your judgment in men if he wasn't. If he cares about you he will forgive you." Cindy sniffled and pulled away so that she could wipe her eyes.

"Now, enough of this self-pitying. What is done is done and you can only move forward."

"It still hurts though...the look he had on his face..." Mrs. Vortex was done hearing her daughter be upset over a guy she didn't necessarily approve of. She walked past Cindy over to the Christmas tree and picked up a large white rectangular box with a black bow.

"Here, open this." She handed the large box to Cindy to sat on a nearby sofa.

"But it's not morning yet, and where's Dad?" Her mother took a seat next to her.

"Your father is on the way home from work, I don't think he will mind if you open one." Even though she was a teenager, she was still pretty excited about opening Christmas gifts. She delicately pulled the end of the black ribbon and lifted the top off of the box. She sifted through the tissue paper until she saw what was inside. The soft feel of the very pale pink satin touched her fingers. She didn't want to take the garment out of the box for fear of wrinkling it.

"Your father said that when he had last spoken to you on the phone that you said you had a dance that you had to go to."

"You picked me out a dress? It's lovely, but don't think I should go anymore."

"Cynthia, do not let a boy influence your decisions. Either way, I expect you to wear it at some point." Cindy smiled, and was glad to see that her mom was actually smiling back. Maybe her mother's forgiveness was what she needed to start to feel better again.

"I'm selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best." ~Marilyn Monroe

Cindy lay under the covers of her bed wallowing in self-pity and refusing to face the world. She had gotten back to Retroville just in time for New Year's Eve. As usual Nick was hosting a party at his house that night to celebrate. She arrived back to her suburban home yesterday and hadn't left her bed since. There was no way that she was ready to face the world, or ready to face Jimmy. She had called him a few more times in the hopes that he might answer and that they could talk things out, but he ignored every call, some even going straight to voicemail. He definitely hadn't forgiven her.

"Cindy, c'mon you can't stay in bed forever."

"Like hell I can't." Libby sat down on the bed next to her feeling badly for her friend. She knew that things were going to be hard after what happened, and understood both of her friend's sides, but she still didn't want to feel torn.

"You're going to have to face him sometime."

"He doesn't want to see me."

"He's just mad, it will blow over."

"Oh yea, he's just going to get over it and then a unicorn will fly over a fucking rainbow." Cindy pulled the covers down to her chin, only doing so that Libby could see the dead pan expression on her face. Libby rolled her eyes but still chuckled at her sarcasm.

"Don't let it get you down Cin, what happened is in the past and he'll get over it. Plus, you better suck it up because you're going to see him at the party."

"I'm not going."

"Yes you are."

"You can't make me." She felt like she was being childish but didn't care.

"Since when have you been afraid to do anything?"

"I am not afraid..." Actually she felt terrified.

"Whatever happened to the confident, badass girl who showed up at a party on her first day back and turned heads? That girl didn't care what anyone thought about her. That girl didn't let anyone get in the way of her having a fun time." Cindy stared up at the ceiling thinking about what Libby had just said. She was right, what had happened to her? A couple months ago if a guy didn't want her she would say screw you and move on to better things. But that was it, she wasn't sure that there was any better out there for her. She wanted Jimmy and no one else, but was she supposed to just lie here being depressed until he was willing to have anything to do with her again?

"You know what? You're right. What the hell is wrong with me? I'm going to that party, and I'm going to make him realize just what he gave up."

"Uhhh Cindy, do keep in mind that he still has a legit reason for being mad at you."

"I know that. But that doesn't mean I can't at least try to get him back in the most basic way."

"And what's that?"

"Sex appeal." Suddenly Libby felt like she had created a monster.

As Cindy walked next to Libby she was getting second thoughts but wouldn't show it on her face. On the outside she looked confident and unstoppable on the inside she felt nervous and self-conscious. If anything she knew that she was amazing at putting on an act. Once again she felt like everyone was staring at her. Sure she had made herself noticeable by wearing a short and lacy purple dress, coupled with a pair of high heels; but she had a feeling they were all looking at her for another reason. Knowing Betty, the whole school must have heard about what happened. It seemed like her main goal in life to make her life a living hell.

As they continued to walk through the crowd trying to find Sheen and Carl, Cindy ran a hand through her wavy hair. She searched the crowd as well, not sure if she wanted to find Jimmy or not. Whether she wanted to or not became no longer a question as her eyes landed on him and her heart sank. He was sitting on a couch with Betty sitting happily on his lap. Her arms were wrapped around his neck and their lips were locked together. If that wasn't worse enough she could hear Brittany talking to one of her friends not too far away.

"Aren't they so cute together? I'm so happy they finally made it official!" They last word kept ringing in her ears over and over again like an echo. She almost didn't know how to react. Her plan had backfired and she had barely walked two steps through the door. Libby apparently had seen and heard what she had, and had started pulling her friend away.

"What...when...?" Cindy couldn't piece together a coherent sentence; she was too much in shock.

"I have no idea..." Cindy pulled away from her friend and started moving in another direction. Libby started after her in confusion.

"Where are you going?" The blonde ignored her as she kept walking, looking around for someone as if she was on a mission.

"Cindy, slow down!" She pushed through the crowd not even bothering to apologize to people she bumped into. Her mind was far too preoccupied to care. Finally she spotted the person she was looking for. She walked up to him, not stopping to notice that she was interrupting a conversation that he was having with a girl who was practically hanging all over him.

"Nick." He turned around a bit angry at the intruder until he saw who it was.

"Hey babe, what's up?" Libby had finally caught up to Cindy and seeing that she was seeking out Nick and not Jimmy brought her slight relief, if only for a moment.

"Where's the alcohol?"

"A bit demanding aren't we?"

"Nick."

"Chill babe, follow me." He put his arm around her shoulder and led her to the kitchen. The girl that he had been flirting with frowned that he had left her for some blonde chick. Of course, she did know who Cindy was. After the photo incident everyone did.

Libby followed Cindy and Nick into the kitchen, not pleased with what was going on.

"Pick your poison." Nick said gesturing to the bottles of hard alcohol that were lined up on the counter. Cindy picked up a bottle of Jack Daniel's not even really looking at the other choices.

"Here let me get you a-" He didn't finish his sentence when Cindy unscrewed the cap and took a big swig out of the bottle.

"Whoa, slow down sweetheart."

"Cindy!" Libby scolded her, she didn't agree with her friend drinking away her problems. Cindy turned to Nick and reached into his front pocket, knowing what she would find there. He smirked smugly at the position that they were in.

"We can take this upstairs if you want." He said suggestively. She found what she was looking for when she pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter.

"I thought you quit." Libby added softly as she watched Cindy light the cigarette.

"Guess not."

"Nick, I need to talk to Cindy, would you mind giving us a minute." He shrugged and walked out of the room, going to see if the girl he was with before Cindy showed up was still where he left her.

"Cindy, just what do you think you are doing?" She took another drink out of the bottle then went back to her cigarette.

"He thinks I'm this horrible person, an addict, a junkie. Well then I'll show him. If that's what he wants to think, then fine. I'm happy to satisfy his opinions."

"Have you lost your damn mind? I know you're upset but you can't do this to yourself."

"Don't worry I've done this before, I'll be fine."

"Yea right you'll be fine. Partying hard is what got you into this mess to begin with. It wasn't the answer then and it isn't the answer now."

"Easy for you to say! You have everything. You've had the same guy show nothing but love for you since we were kids. You have NO idea what this feels like." She knew what she said sounded harsh and immediately felt bad for her words.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to say it like that..." Libby sighed.

"I know, I know you're just angry and upset but this isn't the right way to deal with it.

"Well right now it's the only thing that's working." Cindy's face softened upon seeing the worry in her friend's eyes. "Don't worry, I'll be okay, I'm a big girl."

"Somehow that doesn't soothe my nerves a bit."

"I've been reckless, but I'm not a rebel without a cause." ~Angelina Jolie

By now, she was feeling thoroughly intoxicated. She had been able to get Libby to calm down and told her that she just needed some air. She snuck outside the kitchen's back door into Nick's backyard. She sat on the steps leading up to the door. She chuckled and shook her head at the display of her own private pity party. The bottle of alcohol was near to half gone, and she had been chain smoking like it was her job. She wasn't sure if she should go back inside, it was a mistake to come here and now she felt stranded since she was drunk and had to wait for Libby to bring her home anyway.

Voices from inside the kitchen caught her attention. She couldn't make out what they were saying at first because it sounded muffled. Cindy could decipher that it was a girl and boy. After a length of silence she heard very clearly what was being said as the girl was trying to be seductive.

"Let's get out of here." Immediately she knew exactly who it was and exactly who she was with. Cindy couldn't believe her luck, how the hell did these things happen to her? She started to erupt into a fit of giggles at how karma must have had it out for her. Her laughter started off soft, and then soon it was uncontrollable as she was gasping for breath and tearing up at how funny it was. She knew that they could hear her when they started asking each other what that noise was. What she should have done was clamped her hand over her mouth and wait for them to leave before going inside. That's not what she did though.

Standing on wobbly legs and taking a minute to steady her not so sober self, she continued to laugh her ass off as she opened the back door. They both stared at her entrance, shocked at the outburst. Their stares didn't even faze her as she continued to laugh out loud, even wiping at her eyes from the tears that formed. Cindy placed the bottle of Jack on the counter before walking past them, still fighting off giggles.

"And what the hell is so funny?" Betty spat out at her. She turned on her heel so that she could face them.

"You two! You're just fucking hilarious!" There was so much excitement in the way she said it you would have thought that they were all best friends.

"What are you even doing here? Haven't you had enough humiliation yet? By the looks of it you've gone back to being a drunken slut, not that you ever weren't." Betty stabbed at her again, not satisfied with her happy demeanor. Jimmy stood next to her with his eyes narrowed. He kept quiet though, not trying to interrupt their confrontation. The comment didn't bother Cindy and she spoke back to her.

"I'm _oh_ so hurt by your words. How will I EVER move on with my life? Seriously, get a grip. Humiliation? Yea, you can pat yourself on the back for that one. Good job, really." Cindy walked up closer to them putting on her best smile.

"But I have just had to say thank you!" She put her hand on her heart as if she was touched. Betty looked utterly confused, but Jimmy seemed to be used to her sarcastic ways. Other people from the party started to hear the commotion that was occurring in the kitchen and began to filter in.

"Thank you so much, because now I have absolutely nothing to hide anymore. I feel overjoyed knowing that you were my saving grace. And yes, I have fucked up in so many ways and eventually people will forget about the things I did. But you? All you are is an attention whore. This isn't something to be proud of sweetie." The crowd that had formed oohed at her statement. She turned around gesturing to her audience.

"Let's see, how desperate is the oh so popular Betty Quinlan? Hmm she only stole half naked pictures of me and posted them on the internet for the whole world to see. Oh and then there was that time where you literally stalked my life and took the accident that put my friend into a vegetative state and threw it back into my face. You're pathetic." Betty was silent as the teenagers in the background were reacting to Cindy standing up to Betty. Betty knew she had to come up with something good to combat what Cindy had just said, she couldn't let her talk to her like that in front of everyone.

"I did what I had to do. Plus it takes a real attention whore or just a plain whore to steal another girl's guy."

"It's not stealing when they come willingly." Betty then threw the contents of her red cup all over Cindy, soaking the front of her dress.

"I was just going to settle for making a fool out of you, but now I'm going to kick your ass." She started towards her, fully ready to punch her in the face, when Jimmy stepped in front Betty.

"I've had enough of your idiotic charade." She paused and looked him straight in the eye as he continued to stare her down. She was pissed that he came to defend Betty; she was just as much in the wrong as she was.

"Oh you've come to her rescue? Huh... I didn't know she had you on a leash, where's your dog tag? Do you fetch and roll over too?"

"Fuck you."

"In case you forgot, you already have." The whole room got silent at her remark. No doubt everyone had heard.

"Yea don't I wish I could take that back." Her face fell from the victorious smirk until her mouth was slightly hanging open.

Libby intervened and pushed them apart as Sheen pulled Jimmy away and Libby did the same for Cindy. Carl looked on feeling conflicted as two of his closest friends acted like sworn enemies.

"I think it's time we leave." Libby continued to pull Cindy along as if she was a misbehaved child. Nick stopped them on the way.

"Babe do you want some dry clothes to put on?"

"We were just leaving." Libby replied for her.

"Libby, do you really want alcohol all over your seats?" Cindy rationalized.

"All right, but don't let her out of your sight Nick. I no longer trust her alone." Cindy rolled her eyes but went with Nick nonetheless.

"I'm exactly where you'd like me, you know. Praying for love in a lap dance and paying in naivety." ~Panic! At the Disco

"You're a bad ass." Nick said while going rummaging through his drawers.

"For what? It's about time someone stood up to that bitch."

"Her face was priceless."

"I wish someone got that on video, if I was anything like her I would post it on every social networking site I know."

"Why don't you?"

"Because I refuse to stoop down to her level, it's not like I planned for everyone to see, that part happened on its own."

"It was still amazing if I do say so myself." He handed her a t-shirt and gym shorts which she took gratefully then threw on his bed. Before she realized what she was even doing she pulled her wet and now sticky dress over her head. She wasn't wearing a bra underneath and was just sporting a lacy pair of underwear.

"Wow."

"Oh haha, maybe you shouldn't have allowed me to have that bottle of Jack. I get a little too comfortable with people sometimes. But hey, if you saw my internet debut then this is nothing new."

"Do you seriously not have any idea how sexy you are?"

"Oh shut up, that crap doesn't work on me. Nice try though hon." She went to go grab the t-shit and felt his hand on her shoulder. She turned her head to look up at him and saw that he was pulling the t-shirt out of her hands. He threw it behind him and then simply leaned in and kissed her. She didn't know what to do so she just stood there letting him do it. She didn't feel any kind of emotion when he did so, but it did feel nice after all that she went through lately to have someone desire you. He pulled away wanting to see what her reaction was.

"Do you really want me that badly?"

"You have no idea." In that moment that was exactly what she needed to feel wanted and cared for. Cindy nodded and gave him the sultriest look she could muster up. Her fingers found the hem of his shirt lifted it until it found its place next to the other shirt on the floor. He leaned in to kiss her again and guided her until her back hit the mattress.

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Reviews are always wanted as always!

~Dreaming of dance


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